Family looking for answers into teen's death
- Tiffany Head | July 21, 2015
It is always hard to lose a loved one. It is especially heartbreaking when a parent loses their child, a grief so beyond any natural feeling.
Grieving mother Richelle Dubois is searching for an explanation of what happened to her 14-year-old son, Haven Dubois, who died that tragic day of May 20, 2015.
Dubois remembers her son as being a soft, kind hearted person. He was empathic to others around him and looked for ways to help people. He wanted to learn more about the world around him and watched shows from the History and Discovery channels.
He was a good dancer and liked to listen to hip hop music though he would also listen to old country classics, such as songs by John Fogerty because they reminded him of his mother. He was an excellent swimmer and was in the pool every chance he got and was also taking Tae-kwon do classes when they lived in Alberta. He also played a bit of hockey.
She had gotten a call from the high school he attended and was told he was not there so she went looking for him. She had gotten a tip of where he was last seen and she went there.
“I found him twenty after twelve that lunch time. It was in broad daylight, it was a sunny day. It was a busy area, right by Victoria and fines drive below pilot butte creek there,” said Dubois.
Dubois says the creek that she found her son in was shallow and is in a high traffic area, with kids going back and forth to school and home.
His mother found him lifeless in the Pilot Butte Creek on the east end of Regina. He was sent to the hospital only to be announced that he had died.
Les Parker of the Regina Police Service says that the police found that Haven Dubois death was not suspected to have any criminal nature and it now belongs to the chief coroner, Kent Stewart, to determine the cause of death.
“You need to have evidence of criminal wrong doing. There was no evidence, so there was no basis to come to conclude that is was criminal, and I wouldn’t be able to speak on that without revealing more about the investigation on our end,” said Parker.
Dubois, on the other hand, feels quite differently and very strongly feels that her son’s death was suspicious because of all his things going missing: his wallet is still missing, although his cell phone was eventually returned.
“So for his things to go missing and show up a couple of days later are handing them in, like that right there should be suspicious enough because he had those items on him that day,” said Dubois.
She also said that her son was tall and the creek was very shallow and wonders how it could be possible for him to drown in it. Though others claim that the bottom is quite muddy and it can be like quicksand if anyone ever went into the creek.
Dubois also says she moved him a couple of times to different schools for his safety and was constantly worried for him.
“I had moved him to a few different schools because of bullying and peer pressure. He got along more with girls than he did boys, he was such a good looking kid that the girls surrounded him and a lot of boys didn’t like that about him. I know he was being threatened and bullied for that reason,” said Dubois.
She says there were threats made to him through social media and believes there is someone out there that knows the truth. She and her family have begun their own investigation and use social media and have contacted other news outlets to send out her message for more information about the death of her son.
The chief coroner's office said that they have had many media asking the same question of when the toxicology and autopsy results would be in and what they reveal, and say it will take a few more months before the results come back and until then no one knows for certain if the death of Haven Dubois was criminal or not.
Parker says that once the results come back, the new information would be considered as they always welcome new information.
“If the information revealed any wrong doing, of course the investigation would be re-opened” said Parker.
The Dubois family have also set up a GoFundMe page that would help the family financially through their time of need.
“We are graciously requesting contributions to help Richelle cover her financial obligations and living expenses for her and remaining son James while they grieve this terrible loss and take the time they need to heal their hearts without the additional stress of returning to work too soon,” says the GoFundMe page.