Quebec’s police watchdog says it has opened an investigation after the bodies of a mother and her son, both of whom went missing earlier this week, were discovered in a vehicle in Montreal.

Montreal police confirmed Thursday that the bodies of Lucia Giovanna Arcuri, 76, and Giuseppe Arcuri, 59, were found earlier in the day in an Infiniti SUV belonging to the man. They had been reported missing on Tuesday.

Since Montreal police were looking into their disappearance, the province’s police watchdog — Office of Independent Investigations — has opened a file into how police conducted their investigation. The watchdog is mandated to investigate cases in which people die or are injured during interventions by Quebec police.

Montreal Const. Véronique Dubuc says the watchdog will investigate the work of city police, and provincial police will investigate the two deaths.

First responders were called at around 12:30 am on Thursday to the vehicle in a parking lot. Despite attempts to revive the two people inside, both were pronounced dead at the scene, and Montreal police have described the deaths as suspicious.

Arcuri and his mother lived together in the city’s St-Leonard borough.

Giuseppe Arcuri was last seen Tuesday at around 9:30 am in a restaurant in eastern Montreal. “Mr. Arcuri made disturbing comments before his disappearance,” police said in a bulletin announcing their disappearance.

The last contact with Lucia Giovanna Arcuri was also Tuesday morning. She was suffering from memory loss and rarely left her home. She disappeared without her medication or the cane she needs to walk.

Later, police put out a description of Giuseppe Arcuri’s SUV, which matched the vehicle in which the two bodies were found on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.