BARRIE, Ont. — The mayor of Barrie, Ont., called on the city to rally around the families of six people who were reported missing and then found dead in a car crash on Sunday morning.
Barrie police said four men and two women, all in their early 20s, had been reported missing on Saturday.
Officers then found what police believe to be the six missing persons dead at the scene of a single-vehicle collision around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Mayor Jeff Lehman called it a “shocking and horrible tragedy.”
“As a parent myself this is the worst nightmare,” he wrote in social media posts on Sunday. “The six families in our city who are devastated this morning need all our compassion and support.”
Premier Doug Ford shared Lehman’s tweet and extended his “deepest condolences to the loved ones” of those who died.
“We are holding you all in our hearts during this time of unspeakable pain,” Ford wrote on Twitter.
In an interview later Sunday, Lehman said six families in the community had been “torn apart today.”
“We need to support the families most of all. We need to respect them and give them space and be respectful and compassionate,” said Lehman.
Lehman said he plans to speak with the victims’ families in the coming days and “make sure that they’re receiving the support that we can give them.”
The crash had not been reported to police when officers came across the scene at McKay Road and County Road 27, near Barrie’s southwest border, said police spokesperson Jennett Mays.
The mayor said emergency services notified him very early Sunday morning that the fire department was attending to a fatal crash.
He urged people not to speculate about what happened, saying police were still investigating the circumstances of the crash.
Police declined to provide further information, including the victims’ identities or how they may have known one another.
“Any details we can release will be released as the investigation permits,” Mays said.
The missing persons reports posted to Barrie police social media accounts on Saturday had been taken down Sunday, as is routine when the missing are found.
Barrie police said its traffic unit was investigating with support from the investigative services division.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2022.
