A coroner has found "acute alcohol intoxication" to be the immediate cause of death for a man whose body was pulled out of the Fraser River last summer.
In a finding released Thursday, coroner Lynne Hyatt said a post-mortem examination found
Colin Oliver Wesley, 65, had a blood-alcohol level of 30 per cent and an autopsy found no evidence of drowning or traumatic injury.
Wesley's body was pulled from the Fraser on July 29, 2012 near Lansdowne Road after police and ambulance responded to a call of what appeared to be a dead body floating in the river near Fort George Park.
Wesley had a "long history of alcohol abuse," Hyatt found.
"He had no permanent address and stayed in a men's shelter in Prince George," Hyatt said. "His usual daily routine was to leave the shelter in the morning and return each evening. He was known to consume alcohol with friends, often by the river."
According to medical records, Hyatt said Wesley had collapsed in the shelter's bathroom two weeks prior to his death and was taken to University Hospital of Northern British Columbia.
"He was determined to have alcohol intoxication and then left the hospital against medical advice," Hyatt said.
Between April and June, Wesley had been taken to UNHBC three times for alcohol-related incidents, Hyatt added.
The investigation was unable to determine Wesley's activities and whereabouts on the day leading up to his death, Hyatt said.
