Indigenous leaders and advocates in B.C. are calling for action and accountability after a First Nations teen was found dead in the bedroom closet of his group home.
The teen, who was in the care of an Indigenous organization under a government custody agreement, was found in his group home in Abbotsford earlier this month, according to the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the Indigenous Bar Association and other groups.
His body had reportedly been there for four days before anyone found him.
The leaders said the boy, who has not been publicly named, had been reported missing on Sept. 14.
Staff at the home had asked his mother if she’d heard from him. When she said she had not, they filed a missing person’s report, but it wasn’t until Sept. 18 that he was discovered.
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His death was ruled a suicide, but leaders said they have ordered an autopsy and want a fuller investigation.
“The lives of First Nations children deserve the same attention and action as any other child,” Judy Wilson of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said in a release.
“This young man was in the care of a system that was supposed to protect him, yet his body went unnoticed for several days.”
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Abbotsford police said in a statement they did conduct an investigation into the missing teen earlier this month, and that a care worker believed he was with relatives or at a friend’s house.
“As this is a sensitive investigation involving a minor, AbbyPD is unable to provide specific details surrounding his cause of death,” the department said.
It did say the teen was “familiar” to them as a result of previous missing-person reports, and that at the time, there had been no indication he was suicidal or using drugs or alcohol.
Officers conducted extensive searches interviews in their search for the boy, the statement said. They also pinged a cell phone he was known to use and canvassed homeless camps, shelters and resources centres in Abbotsford and Chilliwack. They also checked with hospitals.
The major crime team took over after the boy’s body was discovered, and found no criminality in his death.
The BC Coroners Service said it was still investigating.