Information on city councillor Michael Vagnini’s cause of death won’t be made public, this from the chief coroner's office in Sudbury.
After searching for more than two weeks, Vagnini’s body was discovered in the late afternoon on Feb. 13. His truck and remains were located shortly before 2:30 p.m. at a seasonal residence on Reserve Camp Road on Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation.
After the police located Vagnini, the police’s missing person investigation became a death investigation, led by the coroner’s office.
Sudbury.com spoke with Stephanie Rea, issues manager for the Office of the Chief Coroner, who said death investigations like these are similar to medical files, and are kept confidential.
“We don't release the reports publicly, such as what the cause and manner of death would be," she said. “We give all that information to the next of kin.”
Rea said that death investigations typically take six to nine months to complete. She would not confirm if the post-mortem had taken place as of yet.
She said that death investigations would only be public if there was “something criminal in nature.”
“We work in conjunction (with police),” said Rea, “A death investigation and a police investigation will always go hand in hand.”
She said even if there is no criminal or police investigation, every sudden and unexpected death will be investigated.
“Even if it's not criminal in nature, any sudden and unexpected death we’ll investigate whether or not there's a police investigation as well.”
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Sudbury.com.