Todd Park and his wife want answers after their daughter Beverly died after being trapped by suction in the middle of Rotary Lake pool two years ago - and these days they can’t seem to get a phone call returned.
“It’s like no one wants to know, or even tell anyone about the dangers of that water.”
Park says he has his wife Brandie have been cut out of any information regarding their daughter and the investigation.
“DC RCMP talked to us for the first three or four months and that was it. The last 20 months have been nothing. Message after message, no calls returned. We have been stonewalled.”
Park and family have been asking about a Coroner’s report in relation to Beverly’s eventual Aug. 16, 2016 death. Despite calls to RCMP regarding the investigation, neither parent knew if the investigation was over, if a report was being drafted or filed.
“It’s not like we were being told nothing was happening, or no news was forthcoming, we heard nothing either way.”
Park says the Coroner’s office from the coast finally called them in May 2018 – despite report being signed off in March of this year.
“We were told well after the fact that the report was finished from Vancouver and Kamloops that ‘all our confirmation was based on Dawson Creek RCMP interviews and files.’
While the coroner can tell us no problem, We got nothing from the local detachment who provided the entire basis of the report,” says Park.
Park believes the contents of the Coroner’s report into their daughter’s death were one of the main reasons no one with the family was over contacted. He has questions and concerns.
“The report is filled with fraud.”
The coroner’s report reads: “Beverly and a few other youth were able to remove the bolts that were holding the cover over a drainage pipe at the bottom of the facility.”
Park has nothing but questions.
“So what tools did these kids use underwater to unbolt a cover? Why weren’t they sucked down the drain because of the ‘strong suction’ then, instead of 45 minutes later?”
“Who says they unbolted the lid? Where did that information come from?”
“RCMP determined the kids did it that day, this goes into the official report? Ridiculous. Yet every single person who is now a parent in DC claims and knows the bolts were gone back when they were kids, back 10, 20, 30 years ago.”
The Mirror office was inundated with calls in late 2016 and visits from parents saying the danger of Rotary Lake has been known for generations.
“Parents should be aware of the ‘Pulling the Plug’ game that gets played there,” said parent DeAnna Wry in 2016.
Park says the cold shoulder has extended into the community.
“We’re told by politicians they can’t do anything either way, yet most seem to be advocating for the ‘lake’ to be opened."
“We’re at a meeting about the safety of the lake. Our daughter was sucked into the lake and we’re told we’re a disruption. We get token nods and platitudes from anyone wanting that lake open. Yet most parents I know won’t take their kids within 50 metres of the water, either way. The only parents who let their kids in that lake are ones that don’t know about the hole in the middle of it killing children, it’s that simple. It’s crazy,” he says.
“We stand back as parents and watch this world go by and shake our heads," he says.
“The ‘lake,’ this facility, hasn’t been maintained for years. The only difference is someone was killed in a social media era where a voice is not drowned out by a community. This is the only thing that has changed – it is closed because of death only. Not for safety.”
Park understands safety, but there is no warning about an open suction in the middle of Rotary Lake.
“Why isn’t it being maintained to the standards of today? This ‘not our responsibility’ game is absurd. The City, the Mile Zero Park, and others.”
Park says he and his wife are trying to move on, but every day is another battle.
“It’s tough.”
