Son charged with B.C. woman's murder: RCMP
Jo-Anne Donovan was last seen at her home on March 13. Local Mounties issued an appeal for information eight days later, releasing her photo as well as a picture of her vehicle in hopes of advancing the investigation. (Kamloops RCMP)
More than a year after a missing Kamloops, B.C., woman’s body was found, her son has been arrested and charged with her murder, Mounties announced Friday.
Jo-Anne Donovan, 57, was found dead near her home in the city’s Westsyde neighbourhood in March 2023, about a week after she was reported missing.
The Kamloops RCMP launched a homicide investigation after her body was found, and few details have been released about her death since, including how she was killed.
Police say they made an arrest in the case on Friday, after the BC Prosecution Service approved a second-degree murder charge against her son, 35-year-old Brandon Jeremiah Donovan.
“We are extremely pleased to have advanced this homicide investigation to the charge approval stage,” said Supt. Jeff Pelly, officer in charge of the Kamloops RCMP, in a news release. “Having these results in this length of time is admirable and exceptional given the number of other homicide and complex investigations (police) continue to advance concurrently.”
Police say they won’t be releasing further information about the case as it is now before the courts.
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