Castlegar worker killed in car crash
By Sarah Simpson
A celebration of life for Dustin Raymond Descoteau will be held this Friday at 4 p.m. at Maple Grove. The 29-year-old Chemainus father of four was killed on Sept. 25 after his pickup truck rolled off the Coquihalla Highway, the BC Coroners Service has confirmed.
“Dustin came to the Island on his days off from work in Castlegar to spend time with his family and kids,” said his sister Paula Phillips on Monday. “He had two amazing days with his kids and the rest of his family. He was travelling back to work when the tragedy happened. He spent his last day with his kids having a picnic.”
Descoteau leaves behind four young children: Austin, Steven, Isabella and Kaleb.
“He deeply loved his family and he treasured every minute he spent with them,” reads his obituary. “Dustin was at a very happy place in his life and experienced more in his 29 years than most do in a lifetime.”
The fatal incident occurred about 11 p.m. on Sept. 25.
“Mr. Descoteau was the driver and sole occupant of a flat-deck pickup truck, which went off the Coquihalla Highway and rolled down an embankment about four kilometres south of the Inks Lake exit south of Kamloops,” Interior Region Coroner Larry Marzinzik said in a press release. “Mr. Descoteau was deceased at the scene.”
Details are sparse because police will not comment about the case, but an RCMP media release shortly after the incident suggested Descoteau had been northbound in a 2002 Ford F-350 pickup. It said he was in the passing lane when the truck drifted over onto the left shoulder. Descoteau tried to reposition the vehicle on the highway but it skidded across two lanes and struck the cement highway barrier. The impact caused the truck to jump the barrier and roll down the embankment several times.
The RCMP release also noted Descoteau, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle.
– Story courtesy the Cowichan Valley Citizen, a Glacier Media Group publication.
