The province has reached out to a family whose developmentally challenged relative was found to have been living in a Campbell River house with the body of his deceased caregiver.
Because the house was not a licensed or registered facility, no monitoring was carried out, the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction said in a Friday statement to the Times Colonist.
It cannot comment on private-care arrangements between the individuals because the province was not directly involved, the statement said.
The province also said it would not comment because of privacy reasons.
“In general, when we are made aware of people receiving assistance who have been displaced, we will reach out to the individual and to other relevant agencies (such as Community Living B.C., the local health authority, etc.) to co-ordinate an appropriate response,” it said.
The ministry and Community Living do not have a mandate to investigate such situations, the statement said. “If it was a registered or licensed facility, the local health authority/Ministry of Health would complete scheduled inspections and assessments.”
Ryan Panton, spokesman for the B.C. Coroners Service, said Friday that the service is investigating the death.
“As the investigation remains open, we’re unable to provide any additional information at this time.”
The man’s family was shocked to learn he had been living in a Campbell River house with the body of his deceased caregiver.
Holly O’Connell told CHEK News that her brother-in-law, Jordan, called her to ask for a meal, saying he had not been eating and had been cleaning up maggots.
“He said to me: ‘Holly can you bring some dinner because I haven’t eaten in a while and I’m exhausted, I’ve been cleaning up maggots’ and I said: ‘Jordan that’s a sign of death’,” O’Connell told CHEK.
Her brother-in-law and a second man, also on assisted care, had moved into the house on Galerno Drive several months ago. The deceased man was their caregiver.
O’Connell told CHEK that Jordan thought the smell was coming from the bathroom and repeatedly cleaned it, along with maggots emerging from under the dead man’s door.
The family thinks the two men may have been on their own for up to two weeks and are asking why they were not checked on during that time, CHEK reported.
It appears the man died from natural causes.
“They need someone to keep an eye on them — this shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” O’Connell said.
The dead man was renting the property and had posted an advertisement seeking tenants.
