Moncton RCMP issue public apology after telling wrong family their loved one was dead

Codiac Regional RCMP have issued a public apology after they misidentified the body of a man found in a public washroom outside Moncton city hall last week and told the wrong family their loved one was dead — but the mother of the man contends the apology is not enough.

"I want to express our profound regret and sincere apologies for the incorrect next of kin notification that was conducted following a recent sudden death in our community," Supt. Benoit Jolette said in the statement Friday.

"I know this will have deep and lasting impacts on both families involved, as well as on the wider community."

Donna Price, of Dieppe, told CBC last week her family went 13 hours believing her 29-year-old son was dead after being notified by police early on Nov. 22.

It was only when she sent someone to her son's home later that day to collect paperwork for funeral preparations that they discovered "to their shock" her son was alive and well.

Police had not asked anyone from the family to identify the body, or taken any fingerprints or DNA, according to Price. Instead, they had simply taken a photo of the victim, which was circulated among members and one or more identified the man as Price's son, who has been homeless in the past and was known to police, she said.

RCMP are still reviewing the incident, as well as the application of policies and procedures, "to find out exactly what happened," according to the statement.

Price declined to comment Friday on the apology.

But lawyer Brian Murphy said his clients are "considering their options," after previously announcing they intend to "pursue legal remedies such as a lawsuit and the complaints commission process." He plans to meet with them on Monday to discuss the matter, he said.

Mary MacDonald, whose youngest son Luke Landry, 35, ended up being identified as the victim, wasn't impressed by the RCMP apology.

"To know that they almost cremated him without even knowing who he was properly — like, that deserves more than an apology, I think. Don't you?" she said in a telephone interview from her home in Prince George, B.C., her voice still raw with grief.

RCMP have declined to comment on any details about the case, saying it may become part of a judicial or internal process.

MacDonald, a mother of three, wants answers. She wants to know "how this could have happened."

Landry was released from provincial jail on the morning of Nov. 21, with no money, no winter clothes and nowhere to go.