Police I.D. body found on Cypress as former shooting victim
The body found on Cypress Mountain Tuesday has been identified as missing 35-year-old Vahid Mahanian, police confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
Mahanian, a resident of North Vancouver, was last seen June 27 while having lunch with friends in Vancouver.
The North Vancouver resident's disappearance made headlines last week due to his ties to past criminal activity, including a violent home invasion in North Vancouver in 1997 and a bloody gangland shootout in Richmond in 2007.
Police say Mahanian's body was discovered July 12 by trail maintenance volunteers a short distance from Cypress Mountain Road, one kilometre northeast of the High View lookout.
An autopsy completed by the BC Coroner's Service earlier today was unable to determine a cause of death.
"In light of the autopsy result, investigators are continuing to treat this matter as suspicious," said Cst. Jeff Palmer, spokesperson for the West Vancouver Police Department, in an issued statement.
Investigators from the WVPD and the Vancouver Police Department's homicide unit are currently conducting "detailed processing" of the area where the body was found, in search of evidence that could provide clues into how Mahanian's body ended up there.
Anyone who may have noticed suspicious activity in the area, or anyone with information about Mahanian's whereabouts since June 27, is asked to contact West Vancouver Police at 604-925-7300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
ghoekstra@northshoreoutlook.com
twitter.com/greghoekstra
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