Lumby Mayor Kevin Acton is voicing his frustrations, as confusion and anger mount over the death of Tatjana Stefanski.

鈥淭he community has gone from shock and awe to anger,鈥� Acton told The Morning Star, on Wednesday, April 17.

Stefanski was reported missing by the RCMP on April 13, after departing unexpectedly, from her Lumby home, with her ex-husband, later identified by family as Vitali Stefanski. RCMP did not provide any updates until two days later, when they stated that they located a 鈥渄eceased female on Sunday, April 14,鈥� near Mabel Lake Forest Service Road during their investigation into an alleged abduction.

The RCMP arrested a man in the general area on Sunday, April 14, but he was released 鈥渢he next day, with a series of mandatory conditions to abide by.鈥�

The investigation has since been turned over to the RCMP Southeast District Major Crimes Unit.

The Lumby mayor says the village鈥檚 schools are on alert as is the community after hearing the distressing news of the alleged kidnapping followed by Stefanski鈥檚 death and a possible suspect鈥檚 release from custody.

鈥淚t just seems odd that someone who is a suspect of something like that gets to sort of go and do whatever they want while everyone else hides behind lock and key,鈥� Acton said.

He suggested there is a flaw in the legal system if 鈥測ou don鈥檛 have anything in place where you can hold,鈥� someone arrested in connection with a death for 24 hours.

However, he acknowledged that he doesn鈥檛 know exactly what that change looks like, as it is the first time he is facing something like this as a mayor.

Staff Sgt. Kris Clark of the Southeast District Major Crime Unit told the Morning Star that, 鈥淭he police do not have the authority to hold someone indefinitely until the investigation is complete. Suspicious death investigations are complex and can take time.鈥�

Acton said he is worried about how the community will react to this recent incident.

鈥淔acebook is rife with misinformation, and people are feeling anxious about this because they don鈥檛 have some solid facts. I know that police hands (sic) are tied, they don鈥檛 want to do anything that鈥檚 going to chance to hurt their investigation,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t the same time, a quick response with some facts about how things work and letting people know that they are safe, not safe or what they should do in general. A media release would certainly help.鈥�

The situation was compounded by the fact that the RCMP initially released information with the wrong names of both Tatjana (spelled Tatiana in an original RCMP release) and the alleged suspect, Vitali Stefanski (called Vitali Steffen in the same original RCMP release).

The incorrect names drew ire from an individual on Facebook, Kristine Steffen, who posted to the Vernon Rant and Rave group, 鈥淢y father who happens to have the same name as the ex-husband, is receiving threats and messages from strangers. Please do your research before messaging people and I highly suggest not messaging people who are in active investigations etc. What happened is truly horrible we are trying to get in touch with the RCMP to fix this issue, no luck so far. We send our prayers to the family.鈥�

This added more fuel to Acton鈥檚 fire regarding a policy change.

鈥淲e need to be far more prepared for situations like this,鈥� said the mayor. 鈥淗ave some plans in place, so the public can feel at ease, or a way to detain people until we know that the public is safe. I would hope that the powers that be are taking a hard look at this.鈥�

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