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Investigation into suspicious death in Kelowna leaves questions unanswered

Austyn Godfrey’s mother “has been begging for answers and it keeps falling on deaf ears”
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A source close to the family of Austyn Godfrey says that the timeline of events before the discovery of her body at a Kelowna dog park are not accurate.

A woman, K.C., reached out to Capital News to provide an update on the investigation. She has asked to remain anonymous.

Godfrey was found dead at the park in Glenmore in January. Since then, the Kelowna RCMP has been investigating the incident as a ‘suspicious death’, not a murder.

Shortly after Godfrey’s death, Ashley Henry reached out to Capital News and said that she was the last person to see Godfrey before her death. Henry said that they were safely cuddled up on the couch until Godfrey left at 2 a.m.

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K.C. alleges that the information Henry provided is not true.

“We believe Ashley was one of Austyn’s friends…. Michelle (Austyn ‘s mom) doesn’t consider any of those people her real friends,” said K.C.

Capital News has reached back out to Henry for a response.

K.C. said that Godfrey regularly traveled between Kingston, ON and Calgary, AB before moving to B.C.

“Unfortunately, we know she was into drug use. Not sure specifically which, but nothing good, that’s for sure,” said K.C.

The Serious Crime Unit is investigating Godfrey’s death as suspicious. The B.C. Coroners Service has conducted an autopsy to determine the cause of death, but the information has not yet been released.

K.C. said that Austyn’s case has been passed on to another officer who is not providing the family with regular updates.

She said that Michelle, the mother, “has been begging for answers and it keeps falling on deaf ears.”

Kelowna RCMP Const. Mike Della-Paolera said that the family will only receive new updates when it does not jeopardize the investigation or is deemed appropriate to release to the public. Della-Paolera said that he spoke with the supervisor and he advised that the family has been updated.

“Unfortunately sometimes answers do not come easy during these kind of investigations.”

A friend from Godfrey’s hometown of Kingston, told Capital News that he saw concerning posts from Godfrey’s social media shortly before her death.

“She literally posted ‘if I wind up dead it is ‘cause of this guy,” said Matt Kennedy.

Kennedy said that she had posted the story on her Instagram. She also posted screenshots of messages between her and the ‘guy’ that she was concerned about.

While Ashley Henry once said that she did not personally know the man pictured in Godfrey’s posts, but said that he was allegedly “extremely abusive to her and she had been trying to leave him for a long time.”

The RCMP has been unable to comment on the man in the posts.

Della-Paolera said tha the RCMP along with the B.C. Coroners office are still investigating this matter and will communicate all findings with the family when the time comes.


@Rangers_mom
Jacqueline.Gelineau@kelownacapnews.com

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Jacqueline Gelineau

About the Author: Jacqueline Gelineau

I'm a reporter in the beginning stages of my career. I joined the team at Capital News in November 2021...
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