Report of person in garbage truck proved false: RCMP

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — An investigation into a report of a person being left inside a dumpster that had been emptied by a garbage truck proved to be false, according to the Fort St. John RCMP.

On Friday, April 28, 2023, just after 10:30 a.m., the detachment received a report of a suspicious circumstance after a garbage truck driver received a third-party report that someone had been inside the dumpster they had emptied into their compacter.

Mounties said the garbage truck was at the Fort St John landfill, waiting for police and emergency responders to attend before emptying its contents.

The load was emptied in front of several emergency responders who sifted through the compacted garbage, not once but twice. No evidence of a person was located amongst the compacted contents, said police.

“This is certainly an unusual report for the Fort St John RCMP to receive, but we are glad that in the end, no one was found to have been injured or killed in the compacted garbage,” said Constable Chad Neustaeter, Fort St John RCMP Media Relations Officer.

All parties were updated and relieved.