Rumours swirling around Red Deer on Tuesday that four sudden deaths were linked are untrue.
RCMP had reported on Monday that a Red Deer man who had gone missing last week was found deceased in Lacombe County on Sunday and his death was non-suspicious.
Red Deer RCMP have now confirmed there were also three sudden non-suspicious deaths in Red Deer on Monday.
Two of the people who died were people under the age of 18, and the other two were adults (including the man found in Lacombe County), Red Deer RCMP Cpl. Leanne Molzahn said on Tuesday.
“I can’t comment on the details of the deaths but I can confirm they were not all suicides.
“There has been a lot of interest generated but unfortunately it is a result of some rumours that have been created by someone or some people,” Molzahn.
“We do want to quell those rumours because they are inaccurate.
“There is nothing indicating there is any linkage,” of the deaths, she said. “At this point in time there is nothing suspicious or criminal in nature that has been noted.
“It’s not to say there hasn’t been more than one sudden death in a day. We do live in a city of 100,000 people. There are occasions where there is more than one sudden death. ... It’s not to say that it’s never happened before,” Molzahn said.
“I have no idea why (the rumours) have taken the direction they have. We just see that as very unfortunate because there are families that are grieving right now and the last thing that they need to hear about is rumours such as that, which are completely inaccurate.”
There were unverified reports on social media about several deaths in the community, and police fielded a lot of calls because of the rumours.
RCMP don’t usually report on non-criminal deaths out of respect for the families.
barr@www.reddeeradvocate.com