Found Deceased CANADA - Ben Kilmer, 41, Cowichan, 16 May 2018

[Timekeeper65]

How far is Duncan from where the van was?

So very sad.

 

[Amonet]

RIP Ben

Condolences to Ben's loved ones.

 

[gymgal]

Looks like a suicide. RCMP say no foul pla.y

 

[Satchie]

How far is Duncan from where the van was?

So very sad

I think the family meant Duncan as in, the area where the van was left. Technically, Duncan is just the small, completely urbanized city, about 5 miles east of where the van was found.

A local report says the remains were found "in a remote area of the Cowichan Vally, near the Chemainus River."
https://www.chemainusvalleycourier.ca/news/breaking-family-confirms-ben-kilmer-found-dead/

That river is about 4 miles north of where the van was left, it would mean crossing Highway 18. That's not a super busy road like what we think of as a highway. North of highway 18 is wilderness, with only logging roads to get around.



I wonder whether a mushroom hunter found the remains, that's what gets people out into those densely wooded areas.

The river that was searched was the Cowichan River, 1 mile south of the van's location, and fairly popular.

The RCMP statement provides no details and says no updates will be issued at this time. RCMP in British Columbia - Missing man located deceased

I personally never doubted that he walked away from the van intending to disappear forever. Sometimed people do that when they're in mental distress.

 

[Timekeeper65]

Satchie THANK you for this very detailed answer to my question. It has been an honor to read your posts here and elsewhere. Your knowledge and expertise has helped me understand.

 

[KJ's Mamu]

Prayers for his family for peace.

 

[gymgal]

This ending still leaves many questions for me. Did he send someone a text that suggested he was about to take his own life and that's why the RCMP said all along that there was no connection to the 2 men that were murdered in Ucluelet? Is that why his wife wanted to only search certain areas? Why would he walk 5 miles? Why leave the van running? The whole story is strange. I hope we get more information.

 

[Policescannr]

Police do not keep homicides secret! Never, ever. The public must be informed.

Accident, overdose, suicide, those kinds of determinations by the Coroner are only released to the family, and the family decides whether they want the public to know.

Super tragic. I hate to say it but it

How could they have identified him so fast and ruled out foul play? Even if a suicide note was left, the body would be badly decomposed.

Foul play is not ruled out. The final answer is forthcoming from the bc coroners service.

 

[Policescannr]

This ending still leaves many questions for me. Did he send someone a text that suggested he was about to take his own life and that's why the RCMP said all along that there was no connection to the 2 men that were murdered in Ucluelet? Is that why his wife wanted to only search certain areas? Why would he walk 5 miles? Why leave the van running? The whole story is strange. I hope we get more information.

This story isn’t over yet there are many questions, and the RCMP do not do autopsies, that is up to the bc coroners service, RCMP stated no foul play at a first glance but the coroners conclusion is yet to be revealed.

 

[CherryKitty]

Very tragic, and suspicious. It sounds like it could have been some sort of suicide/mental break - maybe he smashed his phone, ran out of the vehicle and off into the bushes. But from where the van was parked, and where his body was found, is about a 2-hour walk. And like many, I'm curious about how quickly they identified his body after five months. Unless it was just due to his clothing, ring, etc - but five months post-mortem, one would typically think the body would have been badly decomposed, or even disturbed by wildlife.

 

[Policescannr]

Very tragic, and suspicious. It sounds like it could have been some sort of suicide/mental break - maybe he smashed his phone, ran out of the vehicle and off into the bushes. But from where the van was parked, and where his body was found, is about a 2-hour walk. And like many, I'm curious about how quickly they identified his body after five months. Unless it was just due to his clothing, ring, etc - but five months post-mortem, one would typically think the body would have been badly decomposed, or even disturbed by wildlife.

They would have identified him by his dental records he was in the bush 6months. And his body was found more than 2 hour hike from van. What’s so odd to me is that his van was running, as if he exited in a big hurry, and sniffer dogs tracked his scent to a nearby property with a pond where they lost the scent. Now his body was found in the opposite direction a considerable distance away. He was wearing steel toed work boots, even for a fit guy you have to be very motivated to walk that far. And then what? Just sit there and wait to die from starvation? It feels like he was running/evading from some dire threat/person. All so strange. I don’t know what to believe. Coroners results are yet to be published.

 

[Detectivediva]

My thought is that it was obvious that it was a suicide. Most logical way to come to that conclusion is if they found him hanging. No other method would call for "no foul play suspected" that fast IMHO. We might not ever find out how he did it though. Very sad situation.

 

[gymgal]

My thought is that it was obvious that it was a suicide. Most logical way to come to that conclusion is if they found him hanging. No other method would call for "no foul play suspected" that fast IMHO. We might not ever find out how he did it though. Very sad situation.

If found hanging, someone else could have been involved. Happens a lot in Thailand that way. Just saying.

 

[GraceG]

How could they have identified him so fast and ruled out foul play? Even if a suicide note was left, the body would be badly decomposed.

IF (and that's a big IF) a firearm was used there would likely be obvious damage to bone. If a bullet penetrates the skull perpendicular to the surface, a round defect is formed, often with outward radiating fractures extending from the bullet hole. The force of the bullet’s entrance increases the intracranial pressure inside the skull, causing the pieces of bone between the radiating fractures to push outwards. These ‘heaving fractures’ can be differentiated from blunt force trauma fractures because the bone sits above the plane of the skull instead of below it.

When a bullet strikes the skull tangentially, a characteristic ‘keyhole’ is formed—a defect that is circular at one end with tangential fractures radiating outwards in parallel, allowing the bone between them to lever out.

Exit wounds often tend to be much larger than entrance wounds for a number of reasons and large chunks of bone may be completely detached from the skull following the bullet’s exit.

 

[Jamtartz]

I wonder how many trained and specialized dogs couldn't pick up Ben's scent or trail. That is still baffling me. RIP Ben

 

[viccity]

I wonder how many trained and specialized dogs couldn't pick up Ben's scent or trail. That is still baffling me. RIP Ben

Dogs just really aren't all that good at these things. We see it all the time on here.

 

[Policescannr]

I wonder how many trained and specialized dogs couldn't pick up Ben's scent or trail. That is still baffling me. RIP Ben

They did track his scent but only to a neighboring property by a pond, where the dogs got confused and lost the scent. I think he either doubled back and crossed the highway, or was taken from the pond area but this is just speculation. How the dogs were not able to track his scent across the highway is a real head scratcher.

 

[tarabull]

Would the dogs track Ben's scent across the highway, IF he got in vehicle???

(note BIG if...)

[Just jumping off your 'head scratcher' comment Policescannr]

 

[Satchie]

Dogs just really aren't all that good at these things. We see it all the time on here.

I agree, they have great skills when they're close to the object, but not when it has long since passed by. In fox hunting, for example, humans would often see the fox before the dogs found it's scent.

 

[Policescannr]

Would the dogs track Ben's scent across the highway, IF he got in vehicle???

(note BIG if...)

[Just jumping off your 'head scratcher' comment Policescannr]

No they wouldn’t be able to track that. Something happened and it happened really fast. Split disicion. There’s something else going on here. Same day as the other guys in Ucluelet.