Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds

By Jill Sperling

Remembering David

Kamloops man grieves death of brother, whose remains were found near a North Shore dumpster

Dec 2, 2019 | 5:04 PM

KAMLOOPS — RCMP have identified the man whose remains were discovered near a dumpster on Carson Crescent last Friday as David Melvin Boltwood.

An autopsy is underway to determine whether the death was suspicious and RCMP are asking people to come forward with information.

In the meantime, Boltwood’s brother, Benjamin, is keeping David’s memory alive the best way he knows how.

Benjamin Boltwood didn’t always have the smoothest relationship with his older brother.

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“I had a very topsy-turvy merry-go-round relationship with my brother,” he said.

When he heard that his brother had been found deceased, wrapped in a rug beside a dumpster, he felt compelled to visit that spot.

“I came out here this morning for a while, just to do my thing, and then I went back to get the wreath and I just came back to set that up,” Benjamin said.

The wreath memorial marks the place where the investigation began into 66-year-old David Boltwood’s death.

“At this time we don’t know whether his death is criminal or not, or simply it was a criminal act, the way his body was disposed of, wrapped in a carpet and put near a dumpster,” said Cpl. Jodi Shelkie of the Kamloops RCMP.

David Boltwood was homeless, and would often be seen in various North Shore locations in a wheelchair.

David Boltwood (Image Credit: Kamloops RCMP)

Benjamin says his brother arrived in Kamloops in August. He last spoke to David in October, and doesn’t know how he died.

“There’s two scenarios in my mind,” he said, “someone killed him, or the best scenario, he died of natural causes and someone panicked and instead of calling 911, rolled him up, threw him (next to) a dumpster like a piece of garbage.”

Benjamin is convinced that someone at the apartment building where the dumpster is located knows something.

“All these people here, they know something. But they don’t want to say anything, they want to keep quiet, right?”

For now, he’s left with the memories of a brother who accepted him the way he was.

“He taught me how to ride a bike, he taught me how to drive a car, he covered for me when I didn’t how the potatoes for dad, every time I got out of jail he was there. And when he needed me, I couldn’t step up.”