VANCOUVER -The BC Coroners Service has announced it will hold an inquest into the death of Patricia Donna Reed.

Ms. Reed, aged 59, was reported missing on Feb. 9, 2011, from Riverview Hospital where she was an inpatient, involuntarily committed under the Mental Health Act. An immediate search did not find Ms. Reed, but five days later a passerby found her body in a ditch beside a disused road on the Riverview property in Coquitlam.

During the inquest, presiding coroner Vincent Stancato and a jury will hear evidence from subpoenaed witnesses to determine the facts surrounding this death. While the jury may not, by law, make any findings of legal responsibility, it will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances in the future.

An inquest is a formal process that allows for public presentation of evidence relating to a death.

Date: Dec. 3 - 7, 2012.

Time: 9 a.m.

Place: Burnaby Coroners Court, 2035-4720 Kingsway, Burnaby.

Contact:

Barbara McLintock
Coroner, Strategic Programs
BC Coroners Service
250 356-9253