Body of Surrey man discovered a day after crashed Corvette pulled from ditch

A roadside memorial marks the water-filled, 12-foot-wide ditch where Barry Sterling crashed his vintage Corvette and died in south Surrey last week. Sterling was found the day after his car was recovered.
Photograph by: Ric Ernst, The Province

VANCOUVER — A toxicology report is expected to shed new light on a tragic car accident in Surrey last week where a man's body was left submerged in a ditch for more than a day.

Barry Dale Sterling was found dead in the drainage ditch in the 4300-block 168th Street on May 29 by his brother.

Sterling's submerged 1962 Corvette was pulled from the water the day before, but there was no sign of the driver, said Surrey RCMP Cpl. Roger Morrow.

Morrow said four officers and members from the fire department had searched the surrounding area.

Morrow said Sterling's brother arrived at the accident scene on Friday, saw a black jacket floating on the surface and called RCMP.

A dive team found Sterling's submerged body in the murky water more than 24 hours after the accident, he said.

Morrow said police are waiting for a toxicology report to help determine what happened. He said it will be at least a week before the results are complete.

"Did he get up out of the car and then fall into the ditch?" asked Morrow. "Or was he thrown?

"We will have to see what the toxicology reports says."

Morrow said RCMP who were at the scene followed proper procedures in trying to locate the victim. But he said impaired drivers sometimes leave the crash scene and then call Mounties at a later time.

Officers also went door-knocking on neighbouring residences to see if anyone knew what had happened, and checked to see if the car was stolen.

"We have nothing to hide,"

Morrow said of the investigation. "Everything we did was done properly. We had four police officers there in the search."

A May 29 RCMP news release about the incident said only: "Surrey RCMP is continuing their investigation into a single motor vehicle accident that occurred yesterday morning in the 4300-block of 168th Street in Surrey. One male is dead and the identity of the deceased will not be released until next of kin have been advised."