MONTREAL -- A man with Alzheimer's has died, ostensibly of hypothermia, several hours after he was reported missing from a senior's home in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu in Monteregie.
The victim, Jean-Guy Pronovost, was 88 years old.
His disappearance was signalled Wednesday, at 10:26 p.m., to Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu police. One of the first police officers who arrived on the scene found the victim near the senior's home, located on Jacques-Cartier St. South. The investigation has been handed over to the Service de police de l'agglomération de Longueuil (SPAL).
A spokesperson for the SPAL, Isabelle Poirier, said Friday that Jean-Guy Pronovost was still alive when he was found, but that he died very early Thursday morning at the Hopital du Haut-Richelieu.
"A preliminary examination of the victim's body [by the coroner] shows that it is possible he died of hypothermia," agent Poirier said.
"Supplementary exams will need to be performed before confirming the exact cause of death," she added.
An SQ investigator and an expert in forensic identification are assisting the investigation.
Police will have to meet with witnesses and the employees of the senior's residence. They will analyze security footage to determine how long Pronovost spent outside during the frigid cold before employees became aware that he was missing and eventually found.
On Jan. 20, 2019, the mother of former Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe died of hypothermia in similar circumstances. Helene Rowley Hotte Duceppe was discovered dead outside of Residence Lux Gouverneur in Montreal. The coroner's report, released on June 18, confirmed that she died of hypothermia after several hours outdoors, not from an illness. The report also revealed a series of shortcomings in the retirement home where she lived.
