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(UPDATE: Dec. 17 @ 11 am) - The man who died at the homeless camp of Recreation Avenue early yesterday morning has been identified as Shane Bourdin.
"During the wee hours of the morning, the father of my children lost his battle to addiction," wrote Anita Anderson, who had two children with Bourdin before the couple split up.
"I promise I will do everything I can to give these kids the best life I can. They love you beyond words."
The tributes for Bourdin came flooding in, as people called him a "great father and great friend" who "will be sorely missed."
"I wish I could've seen you one last time," wrote Kyle Crofts. "I first met you in July, Shane, I ended up in a rut (and) you took me under you as a brother. I will never forget the times we had, the hugs, you were amazing."
Plenty of photos of Bourdin alongside his children, other family and friends have been shared over the past 24 hours as well.
On one post, Anderson said "thank you for showing his fun and loving side! This is the Shane I remember."
The RCMP have not confirmed a cause of death.
(UPDATE: Dec. 16 @ noon) - More details are coming out regarding the death of a man at the homeless camp off of Recreation Avenue.
John Thiessen, an advocate for the city's homeless population that works closely with those who stay at the homeless camp, says he's been told the man was pronounced dead on site.
However, officials have not confirmed where he was officially pronounced dead.
Another homeless advocate, Shilo Ashbury, says that this was a young man who "wanted to get out of this."
"That's what we had talked about yesterday," Ashbury told KelownaNow, fighting back tears. "We talked about that he had one more weekend in cells and we talked about a game plan about what he was going to do."
"Today, I was actually going to talk to his parole officer and contact John Howard Society to see what his next steps could be, because this was one that just needed a helping hand."
With the temperatures dropping to well below 0°C overnight, the bridge housing on Fuller Avenue and a temporary winter shelter on Ellis Street can't open soon enough.
Thiessen said he believes bridge housing on Fuller Avenue will start taking people in this week, which will open up beds in other shelters around the city for those who may currently be forced to sleep outside.
KelownaNow has heard reports of both a name of the victim and a cause of death, but will not be publicizing that information until it's confirmed by the RCMP.
(Original story: Dec. 16 @ 9:35 am) - Kelowna RCMP have confirmed that a fatality took place overnight at the homeless camp off Recreation Avenue.
Paramedics rushed to the scene after the man went into medical distress and he was taken to Kelowna General Hospital.
Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead at KGH.
Police, who were called to the scene around 4 am, said foul play is not suspected.
NowMedia reporter Kent Molgat says the mood is somber at the camp today and he’s seen a number of people in tears.
Despite this, people are still slowly packing up their tents for the day, although there's definitely some leeway today regarding the typical 9 am deadline to leave the property.
It's currently -2°C in Kelowna and snow has started to fall, but it fell down to around -10°C last night.
NowMedia will update this story as more information becomes available.
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