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Investigation

Why the government thinks someone intentionally blocked a culvert causing flood damage in the North Okanagan

VERNON - Plastic and wood debris found near a culvert after a devastating landslide in the North Okanagan in 2014 leads investigators to believe the flood was human caused, according to information obtained by iNFOnews.ca. Investigators with the Ministry of Forests announced in November 2015 they believed someone intentionally blocked a culvert, causing Dale Lake...

Vernon man sentenced to jail time for child porn possession

VERNON - A Vernon man snared in a nation-wide child pornography investigation has been put behind bars. Rylan Sandberg, 46, was one of 150 Canadians arrested as a result of the investigation, which began in February 2014. A 49-year-old Vernon man and a 29-year-old Kelowna man were also arrested. Sandberg pleaded guilty to possession of...

Vernon business frustrated as robbers walk free

VERNON - A Vernon business owner is fed up after two robberies at their store in the last year, and no arrests. Aman Sudan and her husband bought the local Mac’s Convenience Store franchise on 27 Street about a year ago. Since that time they’ve been robbed twice; the first time in January 2015 when...

Suspects uncooperative after Vernon shooting that had ‘potential for great tragedy’

VERNON - Police say two groups of people with ties to criminal activity were involved in an alleged shooting incident last week in Vernon. One group got away, and the other has been less than cooperative with investigators.  According to Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy, neighbours called 911 last Wednesday, Sept. 23, to report shots fired at...

Mounties investigate shots fired in Vernon

VERNON - Vernon RCMP have launched an investigation after a report of shots being fired at a townhouse complex. RCMP Sgt. Dave Evans says in a media release police were called to a townhouse in the 1600-block of 43 Avenue Wednesday, Sept. 23 around 3:40 a.m. A preliminary investigation led police to believe a confrontation...

Multiple residents displaced after Vernon pot lab explodes

VERNON - Several residents of a Vernon apartment complex were forced out of their homes when a neighbouring unit exploded and now, nearly a month later, they still can’t return home, according to one displaced tenant. Resident James Halpert, who gave only his first and middle name, has lived in his Regency Gardens apartment on...

Serious crimes unit investigates body found in Vernon park

VERNON - Police continue to investigate the death of a man found in Polson Park Wednesday. The man’s body was discovered shortly before 10 a.m. Aug. 26. In a media release issued today, Aug. 27, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk confirmed the man was in his late 40s, but said his identity is not being released...

Whereabouts of missing workers from Vernon remain a mystery

VERNON - Two months after going missing, four migrant workers last seen in the Okanagan still have not been located. The four men, from Mexico, were working at an orchard in Vernon before going missing in late June. According to the Vernon RCMP, they’d been in Canada for ten days before taking a cab from...

Police investigating apartment fire that left two Vernon men with severe burns

VERNON - A pair of Vernon men were airlifted to Vancouver last week after suffering serious burns in an apartment fire. The two men, ages 20 and 21, were inside an apartment building in the 3400 block of Okanagan Avenue when a fire started in the bathroom. Deputy Vernon Fire Chief Jack Blair says they...

Credit card skimmer discovered at Vernon gas station

DEVICE IS DIFFICULT TO DETECT VERNON - A device used to skim credit card information from unsuspecting victims might have been used at a Vernon gas station. Staff at the Esso Gas Station at 3400 32 St. in Vernon discovered the device Friday, July 31, and reported it to the RCMP.  “The device was on...

Concern arises over rash of suspicious Vernon grass fires

VERNON - A pattern of suspicious brush fires in Vernon has the fire department on edge as the region heads into scorching temperatures this week. Since June 11, crews responded to four grass fires in the city, two in Becker Park June 11 and June 12, one in Jubilee Park June 22, and the fourth on...

Aggressive cow killed Cherryville farmhand with deadly head butt

CHERRYVILLE - The death of a Yellowknife man who was attacked by an aggressive cow last summer was an accident, says the B.C. Coroners Service. Allen Donald Powder, 49, was moving cows from one corral to another at a farm in Cherryville on July 1. He’d worked for the farm owner’s company about 17 years...

Vernon man falls off boat after losing balance and hits propeller

VERNON - Police are looking into what role alcohol may have played in a weekend boating accident which left a Vernon man badly injured — and they’re not investigating the driver of the boat. Police believe a 21-year-old Vernon man who fell off the bow of a boat and struck the propeller might have been...

Woman found in Kelowna alley dies from injuries

KELOWNA – An 83-year-old woman found with serious injuries in an alley in downtown Kelowna early Sunday morning has died in hospital. RCMP say the woman was found alone in the lane between the Kelowna Daily Courier building and the McWilliams Centre at 580 Doyle Ave. at about 1:13 a.m. She was rushed to Kelowna...

Interior Health employee investigated for alleged sexual assault of ‘vulnerable’ resident

NOT THE FIRST ALLEGATION: POLICE VERNON - Interior Heath Authority is reviewing an employee who was investigated by police for an allegation of sexual assault on a 'vulnerable' care facility resident. Interior Health informed police of the allegations in July 2014 but the incident happened some time before. Vernon RCMP says interior health didn't report...

Surrendered dog in animal cruelty case stolen from SPCA

PENTICTON - One of the dogs under the care of the SPCA following an animal cruelty investigation in Vernon was stolen Wednesday night. South Okanagan/ Similkameen branch manager Corinne Ross says staff arrived Thursday morning to feed the dogs and realized one of the surrendered carlin pinschers was gone. “Someone had taken wire cutters and...

Why you’ve seen so many missing person reports on your news feed this summer

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The faces of missing people from the Thompson-Okanagan have poured into news feeds over the last few months, but police say it’s nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year. Spokesperson for the RCMP Const. Kris Clark says the summer months typically see more reports of missing people. “You’ve got the...

HELSTON: Suspects walk without charges in high profile cases—what’s going on?

Over the course of a week, police let the suspects in two separate, serious incidents walk without charges. The first incident was a shooting in Polson Park Aug. 12. Police said multiple people were involved and several shots were fired. Later that day, one person was arrested in Vernon and three in Kelowna. The next...

Kin Race Track fire considered suspicious

VERNON - Authorities are treating a fire at Kin Race Track as suspicious, just the latest in a long string of dozens of suspicious fires in the community. The Wednesday night blaze destroyed the grandstands overlooking the race track, leaving a charred and unstable structure too dangerous for investigators to enter. “We haven’t even been...