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Friends and relatives of Ryan Donard have been expressing their grief and sharing prayers and memories of him in Facebook posts since he is presumed to have drowned while running from RCMP officers in Stony Rapids.

Officers responded to a complaint at a home in Stony Rapids at 5:15 a.m. Saturday, according to an RCMP news release.

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When they arrived, a man fled the scene on foot and “subsequently ended up in a body of water and disappeared beneath,” the release said.

The man’s body had not been recovered as of noon on Saturday, it added.

RCMP requested an external investigation of the incident and that the Ministry of Justice appoint an external observer.

Prince Albert city police will perform the investigation.

External investigations are also underway in the deaths of two other men who allegedly fled from RCMP in recent months. Their names have not been made public.

RCMP said a man was trying to swim away from officers when he drowned in a slough near Macklin on Nov. 7.