The man found dead near SW Marine and Wesbrook Mall last month has been identified as Joshua Martin Kirkeby.
Kirkeby was 37 or 38 when he died. His remains were found by the RCMP in mid-July.
His mother, Tammy Klippel, said to CTV News that on July 17, RCMP officers showed up at her door to report that her son was dead. The police had interacted with Kirkeby in March but had not heard from him since.
As of July 16, the RCMP E Division Major Crime Section and the BC Coroners Service confirmed both units were investigating the cause and the circumstances surrounding Kirkeby’s death.
“Our investigation into a death reported to the BC Coroners Service on July 15 remains open – our fact-finding investigation will determine how, where, when and by what means this man came to his death,” wrote Andy Watson, manager of strategic communications with the BC Coroners Service in an emailed statement to The Ubyssey.
Watson could not confirm the identity of the body and said that per the Coroners Act and provincial privacy legislation, the service does not share details of open investigations.
The Ubyssey has contacted the RCMP for comment on the status of its investigation.
Klippel noted to CTV News that her son’s body was found in a tent, and speculated that he may have contracted COVID-19 or another illness.
“The best I can guess, it was (a) ‘the elements’ type of thing,” she said to CTV. “For him to die in a tent, you know, it had to be something extreme.”
Kirkeby was born on April 10, 1982 in Burnaby, but was raised in Ontario. He moved to BC from Toronto in 2018.