'Nobody deserves that': Mother wants answers after son's body found in police impound lot

A week ago today, Lita Pawliw was on the receiving end of a phone call no mother ever wants to get.

"I got a call from his best friend to say that he was in the hospital, and he had been in an accident and Dom was with him and they didn't know where he was," Pawliw said.

She rushed to the hospital to look for her son Dominick Lafreniere.

"They checked everywhere in that hospital and they couldn't find him," she said.

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Pawliw said she called police, filed a missing persons report, then found out the address of the crash to go look.

"We were under the impression that he had been badly injured and had probably got out to go get help, and then didn't make it to go get help or maybe he was hurt and couldn't," said Pawliw.

She said police joined the search that evening, but there was no sign of the 19-year-old.

Nineteen-year-old Dominick Lafreniere was killed in a crash Oct. 3, 2024. (Source: Lita Pawliw)

They returned to the scene the next morning to search again.

"There were no officers, there was no one else there but us and his family and we were looking everywhere," she said.

"It was in the back of our heads that this was bad, and we searched and searched," said Jason Mccann, Lafreniere's step-father.

"I literally crawled in culverts," he said. "I was in the bushes, under steps."

They said, during their search of the area Saturday, they bumped into an officer that gave them the news they were dreading.

"They had him and he was in the truck the whole time," Pawliw said through tears.

The crash happened around 1:40 a.m. on Thurs. Oct. 3, in the area of 149 Street and Yellowhead Trail.

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) believe the truck attempted to turn east before it crossed the grassy median, hit a cement barricade and caught fire.

Although the investigation is ongoing, police believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.

The driver of the truck, Lafreniere's best friend, was helped out by a good samaritan.

He remains in hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

"Unfortunately, first responders were not aware there had been a second occupant in the vehicle until after the collision, and due to the severe damage to the vehicle, the body was not located until the next day," a spokesperson from EPS said in an email.

The spokesperson confirmed to CTV news the body was found inside the burned vehicle which had been moved to the EPS vehicle seizure lot.

"You were supposed to look. How do you leave a teenage boy in a truck for days and you tow him away?," said Pawliw before breaking down in tears.

"We figured there are protocols to inspect a vehicle and not just take it from the scene without making sure there's no other contents in it," added Mccann.

EPS said fire scenes can be challenging to investigate "due to the extent of the damage and destruction of evidence."

"There has to be something that is different. You can't do this to a family. Nobody deserves that. A child doesn't deserve that," Pawliw said.

The family wants an investigation into protocols emergency services have at a crash scene and have since been in touch with a lawyer.

"Trying to understand what they were supposed to do, what we can do so this never happens to somebody ever again," said Pawliw.

As they wait for answers, the family is preparing for Lafreniere's service, a boy they said was their "whole world".

"He was amazing. He loved his friends and his family with everything and he wore his heart completely on his sleeve and he was there for whoever needed him," said Pawliw.

"He always had a smile on his face. He was a bright, colourful kid. Just so young and just starting to get things together for himself," added Mccann.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha