A Vancouver police officer is facing a code of conduct investigation related to the discovery of a deceased missing teen at an East Hastings Street apartment.
The officer is facing an allegation of neglect of duty under the Police Act, according to the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner. The matter relates to the investigation into the disappearance and subsequent death of 14-year-old Noelle ‘Elli’ O’Soup, who was found in an apartment at the intersection of East Hastings Street and Heatley Avenue on May 1, along with another body.
Yet another body, a man, was found at the same unit on Feb. 23.
In an email to Global News, Deputy Police Complaints Commissioner Andrea Spindler said the file was opened on a request from the Vancouver Police Department on May 18.
“The basis of the allegation relates to conduct surrounding attendance at a suite where three deceased individuals were ultimately located,” Spindler said.
The Police Act investigation, however, has been suspended until the criminal investigation into the deaths at the apartment has concluded.
Before her body was found, O’Soup had been missing for nearly a year after she left her Port Coquitlam home without permission on May 12, 2021.
Vancouver police said Wednesday that the investigation remains active, and that they have yet to determine how O’Soup or the other person found May 1 died.
A VPD spokesperson said the officer facing the investigation was a serving member, and that there had been no change in their duty status.
The BC Coroners Service is also investigating.
The teen was originally from the Key First Nation in Saskatchewan. Clinton Key, the First Nation’s chief, has criticized the police investigation for what he called “lack of interest.”
The investigation comes as Vancouver police face pressure over their handling of the investigation into the disappearance and death of another Indigenous woman, Chelsea Poorman.
Indigenous groups have criticized what they say was a lack of urgency in the search for Poorman, 24, who was missing for more than 18 months before her remains were found at a vacant Shaughnessy mansion.
-With files from Sarah MacDonald
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