An 85-year-old Vancouver woman is in critical condition Friday after she was left overnight in her car which had been towed.
It appears the woman had pulled over to the side of the road after suffering from a medical condition. The car was towed without anyone realizing that the woman was in the vehicle.
Twenty-one hours later, on Thursday morning, a towing company worker scratched the frost off of the vehicle in an effort to get the Vehicle Identification Number, and found the unconscious woman inside.
Busters Towing said they followed the proper procedures and that it was not policy to look inside a vehicle.
Police have wrapped up the investigation and said nobody is at fault -- calling the incident a very sad and strange string of events.
"We are satisfied that everybody did as much as they could. There was no wrong doing at all," Vancouver Police Const. Tim Fanning told CTV British Columbia.
"Investigators talked to the by-law officer as well as the tow truck driver and it was just a very unfortunate circumstance."
Fanning said the car windows had been frosted so badly on the outside as well as the inside, probably from the woman's breathing, making it impossible for anybody to see into the car.
The woman was in the process of moving from her home to a facility for seniors. Her son alerted police on Wednesday around 3:15 p.m. after he couldn't get in touch with her.
However, since the towing company hadn't yet reported the plates to police, a computer search of the woman's vehicle turned up empty.
Overnight Thursday, temperatures reached as cold as -2 C.
Gerry Dobrovolny of the city's engineering department told CTV that a review is under way to prevent something similar from happening in the future.
"Whenever something like this happens we will look at reviewing our policies and see what can be done to improve," he said.
CTV British Columbia also reports that Buster's Towing is also looking at whether or not a new policy is needed to ensure all cars are checked when they arrive at the lot -- not 24 hours later.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jill Bennett
