The body of Grande Prairie businessman Ken Dorey lay pinned under his overturned pickup in a shallow ditch Wednesday for nearly seven hours after RCMP first inspected the wreckage.

Mounties admit that for a variety of reasons they didn't initially find the 53-year-old underneath his truck and submerged in as much as two and a half feet of water.

It wasn't until a second RCMP inspection of the scene - when friends and co-workers were also present - that Dorey's body was finally found, Mounties said.

Despite the gruesome oversight, Dorey's grieving relatives say they're not upset with RCMP.

"In the big picture, it doesn't make any difference whether it was early or late. Death was final," sister Sharon Dorey, 59, told Sun Media.

Dorey rolled his truck in a ditch just off Range Road 44, south of Highway 43, near Grande Prairie, RCMP said.

A passing motorist noticed the partially submerged truck and reported the single-vehicle rollover to Mounties about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Nobody was found in the truck compartment, but two dogs were discovered nearby, said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

It was reasonable to believe that the occupant had exited on his own, Oakes said.

"I've been to lots of crashes like that where a person is able to get out and a passing motorist gives them a ride," he added.

Because the truck wasn't impeding traffic and RCMP were busy with several other calls, Mounties elected to leave the vehicle until they could have it removed, Oakes explained, adding two officers had to deal with 25 calls for service that day.

At 2:45 p.m., RCMP were at the scene with Dorey's friends and some other motorists when the grisly find was finally made. It wasn't clear yesterday who actually found Dorey's body.

"The position of the vehicle, volume of water in the ditch, and debris from trees and grass all contributed to difficulty in locating Mr. Dorey," Oakes said.

RCMP don't believe there was anyone else in the vehicle, but they are looking for witnesses.

Dorey, owner of Ken-Dor Concrete Pumping in Grande Prairie, was last seen alive about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday at a work site near the collision. It's not known exactly when the rollover occurred.

"He had a big smile. He loved to have barbecues and invite folks over. He was a big-hearted, generous person," Sharon said of her brother, who grew up north of Vermillion.

Dorey, who had three sisters, never married and had no kids.

"He was dedicated to his business. And he loved his dogs," Sharon said. "We thought a lot of our brother."

A funeral is being planned for next Friday.

I just wanted to say I met Ken about oh maybe a good month to 6 weeks or so ago He was a friendly man and when I had the issue with the power lines I called him and we spoke about it. The man was a great guy and he was going to hire me but had a full staff at the time. I drove from Edmonton to meet him and was in his shop and he told me about all the companies in Alberta who to work for and who to watch out for.

I feel sorry for his guys because I met all of them and they seemed like a great bunch I will attend his funeral.

38zman

How sad, we will all pray for him family. I hope someone will do a memorial for him on this site.

http://www2.concretepumping.com/

I hope we can all share in the loss.