Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 27/02) - Chief coroner Percy Kinney is expected to call an inquest into the apparent suicide of a Yellowknife woman last week.

"All I can say right now is I'll be making an announcement later on in the week," Kinney said Monday morning. It's believed he will announce the inquest today.

Vawn Ruthven had voluntarily checked herself into psychiatric care, at Stanton Regional Hospital, but had been released on an escorted day pass. The 36-year-old woman was last seen the evening of March 13 near the hospital.

Police issued a press release the following afternoon, requesting the public's assistance locating the woman. A subsequent press release indicated she had been found, but did not say she was dead.Ruthven was located in a hotel near the hospital. An autopsy was ordered, and Kinney said he is currently awaiting toxicology results.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Al McCambridge said that once the woman was found, the case fell under the jurisdiction of the coroner's office and Stanton Regional Hospital.

"At that point, we have to defer to them," said McCambridge. He directed further inquiries to Stanton spokesperson Heather Chang.

Dennis Cleaver, Stanton's CEO did not return phone calls as of press time.

Kinney's expected announcement follows on the heels of a Territorial Supreme Court ruling that Stanton Regional Health Board was not negligent in the death of Walter Holan. The 52-year-old Holan committed suicide while on an unescorted day pass in 1996.

An inquest was not called following the discovery of Holan's remains some two years after he disappeared.