B.C.’s police watchdog is investigating after a First Nations youth was found dead on a walking trail the day after she was reported missing.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. says it is looking for witnesses into the death of a First Nations youth who was found dead in Smithers on Dec. 27, 2025, according an information bulletin Friday (Jan. 30). The police watchdog was notified on Dec. 31, 2025 and started an investigation.
She was first reported missing to the RCMP on the evening of Dec. 26, 2025 after staff at her residence were unable to locate her. She was last seen in the area around 9th Avenue and Main Street at 7 p.m. and spoke with someone on the phone two hours later at 9 p.m.
The police watchdog says her body was found on a walking train in Riverside Park shortly after 10 a.m. on Dec. 27.
The watchdog says that when she was dropped off at the residence on Dec. 26, she was wearing a white puffy jacket, blue jeans and carrying a black purse. However, when she was found the next morning, she was wearing grey pajama pants, a black shirt, black sweater and western style ankle boots.
Investigators are now looking to speak with anyone who saw her at either her residence or the walking trail on Dec. 26 or the morning of Dec. 27.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is called in to investigate incidents involving officers or detention guards that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
The police watchdog says there are two factors it considers at the beginning of each investigation: if there has been an injury that meets the threshold of serious harm, as defined by the Police Act, or a death; and if there is a connection between the serious harm/death and officer action or inaction.