Coroner to probe death of woman

The B. C. Coroners Service will hold an inquest into the death of Patricia Donna Reed who went missing from Riverview Hospital last year and was found dead five days later.

The one- week inquest is scheduled to begin on Dec. 3 in Burnaby.

Reed, 59, a patient at the now- closed Riverview, was reported missing Feb. 9, 2011. A passerby found her body in a ditch beside a disused road on the hospital property in Coquitlam.

During the inquest, coroner Vincent Stancato and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses to determine the facts surrounding the death. The jury cannot make any findings of legal responsibility, but it can make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.

Reed, who was involuntarily committed to Riverview, was a longtime patient who had a history of going missing from the hospital, Coquitlam RCMP said last year when she was missing.

She was usually found sleeping in unlocked cars or at her husband’s home, said police.