VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Ministry of Public Safety has stated it was unaware that the B.C. Coroners Service continued to conduct remote attendance at certain death scenes after 2019. Ministry spokeswoman Tasha Schollen indicated that the ministry believed in-person attendance had been reinstated six years ago. The ministry is currently in discussions with the coroners service regarding this issue.

Schollen's comments follow revelations from a former coroner, who reported that two bodies were overlooked at a Vancouver death scene in 2022. This oversight occurred because the coroner attended the scene remotely, communicating with a police officer via phone from a single-room occupancy apartment.

Former community coroner Sonya Schulz explained that the service had stopped mandating physical attendance at certain scenes several years ago to cut costs. Additionally, a delegate from B.C.’s director of employment standards noted in a March ruling that when a field coroner is unavailable in the area where a death is reported, a coroner from another region typically conducts their investigation remotely.

In February 2022, the body of Jimmy Van Chung Pham was discovered in a small apartment. However, the bodies of missing Indigenous teenager Noelle O’Soup and a woman named Elma Enan remained unnoticed for months until residents reported a foul odor.

The ministry described the situation as “tragic” and confirmed that it is in contact with the B.C. Coroners Service regarding these allegations.