Vernon RCMP will be holding a press conference at 1:30 p.m. with updates on the homicide. More details to come.
An Armstrong teenager who died after being found unconscious on Halloween night was met with foul play, police said Tuesday.
Police were called around 7:30 p.m. Monday after Taylor Van Diest, 18, failed to show up at a party, said Gordon Molendyk, spokesman for the Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP.
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Around 8:45 p.m., RCMP officers, friends and family found her body in a bush about three metres from the railway tracks in the 3100-block of Rosedale Avenue in Armstrong.
She was “severely injured” and police are treating the matter as a homicide, Molendyk said.
Van Diest was rushed to Vernon Jubilee Hospital, then transferred to Kelowna General Hospital, where she died a short time later.
Police will not comment on the nature of Van Diest’s injuries until an autopsy has been completed.
On her Facebook page, the Pleasant Valley secondary school graduate wrote about going for her “N” driver’s test in November, watching scary movies and television shows and plans to get her first tattoo: a “bass/treble heart on my inner right wrist.”
Southeast District Major Crime Section is now working with the Vernon/North Okanagan detachment on the investigation.
Armstrong, located in the North Okanagan, about 480 kilometres from Vancouver, is a small community with a population of about 10,000.
“As Armstrong is a small community, an incident such as this affects everyone,” Molendyk said. “The police are working diligently to get answers for the community and not only solve this, but put the community’s mind at rest.”
Anyone who may have seen Van Diest on Monday is asked to call Armstrong RCMP at 250-546-3028, Vernon RCMP at 250-545-7171 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
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