Missing Indigenous teen's body lay in SRO room for weeks after VPD discovery of dead tenant in same unit

A missing Indigenous teen who lived with developmental disabilities was dead in an SRO unit for months before being discovered – despite the fact that Vancouver police located and removed a deceased man from the same unit while she was already dead.

On Feb. 24, the Vancouver Police Department located a man in his 40s dead inside his room in the Heatley Block at Hastings Street and Heatley Avenue.

On May 1, a work crew clearing the man’s possessions from the apartment found the bodies of 14-year-old Noelle O’Soup and an unidentified woman in her 30s, which had been in the room the entire time.

“I just can’t trust the VPD,” said Olivia Louie, O’Soup’s cousin.

“Our family was heartbroken. We were so sad to learn that Noelle had passed. And the more we learned about the circumstances of it, the more upsetting and traumatizing and confusing it became.”

O’Soup had been reported missing from her Port Coquitlam foster home more than a year before her body was located.

Lorelei Williams, an advocate for families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls said she is not surprised to hear of missteps in yet another case involving a female Indigenous victim.

“It sends a clear message that they don’t care about us. Canada doesn’t care about us,” Williams said. “We live in a racist country with racist systems that don’t care about us. And predators know that and that’s why they target us.”

The VPD and the BC Coroners Service are investigating the deaths of Noelle and the other woman whose body was located in the unit.

The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner said it was contacted by the VPD in May and asked to investigate the conduct of an officer for an allegation of neglect of duty.

“The basis of the allegation relates to conduct surrounding attendance at a suite where three deceased individuals were ultimately located,” said Deputy Police Complaint Commissioner Andrea Spindler.

“The conduct investigation was immediately suspended in order to ensure there is no prejudice to any criminal investigation into the deaths.”

She went on to say the OPCC investigation would resume when the criminal investigation and any resulting proceedings have concluded.

Louie believes the OPCC investigation is already too narrow in scope.

“It goes beyond just the one officer who is being investigated,” she said. “We’ve heard from lots of people that had many interactions with multiple VPD officers who were all ignored and still haven’t been followed up with to this day. So, the negligence goes beyond one person.”

The officer at the centre of the OPCC investigation remains on duty.