Death of Hay River woman ruled accidental in B.C. coroner's report

Brittany Marie Ruby Martel was found dead along Highway 5 near Merritt, B.C., almost two years ago. A B.C. coroner's report released Friday has ruled the 27-year-old's death accidental.

The report offers few details of her final moments along a major B.C. highway on July 20, 2018.

Susan Stapleton, the B.C. coroner who wrote the report released Friday, classified Martel's death as accidental and gave the cause of death as "cardiac ischemia due to or as a consequence of methamphetamine and cocaine toxicity."

According to the Mayo Clinic online, cardiac ischemia "reduces the heart muscle's ability to pump blood" and can lead to a heart attack in some circumstances.

"Toxicology examination revealed methamphetamine within a range where lethal outcomes have been observed and the use of cocaine," Stapleton's report states. In other words, Martel died, according to the report, by means of "unintentional illicit drug toxicity" and with "no evidence of traumatic injury."

Martel, of Hay River, N.W.T., was discovered dead along Highway 5 about 60 kilometres south of Merritt, B.C., on July 22, two days after her official date of death. Her body was found by a motorist who had stepped out of his car to stretch during a road closure. According to the report, he found her unresponsive and laying on her back down a small embankment.

The report describes Martel's last known contact as with a friend with whom Martel was sharing a ride to B.C.'s lower mainland. The friend, not identified in the report, said that early in the morning of July 17 the two stopped at the Britton Creek rest stop to sleep. The friend woke up after four hours, and Martel was nowhere to be found. The friend continued on her journey.

According to the coroner, "Ms. Martel was not reported missing."

Martel was reportedly seen by "numerous witnesses" between July 17 and July 20 in the area between where she was found and the Britton Creek rest stop. There were no reports of sightings after July 20. 

Martel's last outgoing cellphone call was made on the morning of July 17. Her cellphone and other belongings were discovered on July 28 at the rest stop.

An investigation of the scene where Martel was found did not turn up any illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia. She was discovered fully clothed but barefoot, with her shoes about 35 metres away. "A path of bare footprints was seen leaving the area where the shoes were found, toward where she was located," the report states.

Merritt RCMP, the RCMP major crimes unit, and the RCMP integrated homicide unit ruled out "foul play" after their investigation.

In the days after her death, family of Martel acknowledged she struggled with drugs.

According to the coroner's report, during the drive Martel "appeared to be experiencing hallucinations, which [her friend] believed to be from withdrawal of substances."

Having ruled Martel's death accidental, the coroner made no recommendations in her report's conclusion.