Abbotsford South MLA Darryl Plecas is mourning the death of his 28-year-old son.
Ryan Plecas was found deceased on Tuesday, and the cause of death is not known at this time. Further details have not been released.
Darryl was elected as a Liberal MLA in 2013 and previously served as the RCMP research chair and director at the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research at the University of the Fraser Valley, where he worked for 34 years.
After he was elected, he served as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice and attorney general for crime reduction.
In February of this year, he was named as the parliamentary secretary for seniors to the minister of health.
Just two months after he was elected, a special prosecutor was appointed by the Criminal Justice Branch to oversee a home invasion that involved his son.
Ryan was at his home on July 20, 2013, in the 3100 block of Gladwin Road when three masked suspects with firearms pushed their way in and demanded that he turn over cash and guns from a safe inside the suite.
He complied with the request and then leaped from his second-storey balcony to escape.
Four suspects were soon arrested and charged by Abbotsford Police.
Ryan himself had only one criminal charge – in December 2014 for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. That case was still before the courts, and his next appearance in Abbotsford provincial court had been scheduled for Jan. 14.
A special prosecutor was also appointed in that case, a move that was done to avoid any real or perceived improper influence because his dad is a provincial politician.