Mohamed Alexandre Coulibaly was found dead in his car in Montreal on January 21, after being discovered in clear cardiorespiratory arrest and frozen inside the vehicle. Investigators found no signs of violence either in the car’s interior or on his body. The keys were still in the ignition, and the battery was dead.
An autopsy carried out on January 26 concluded that Coulibaly died from carbon monoxide poisoning. His car, a 2011 Hyundai Elantra, had a major exhaust-system defect that allowed toxic gases to leak near the air intake for the cabin ventilation system. According to the coroner, the vehicle’s exhaust fumes were diluted and dispersed while the car was moving, but the danger became fatal when the car was stopped. The report says the combination of the defective exhaust system and the vehicle being stationary likely caused Coulibaly’s death.
The coroner determined that the presumed date of death was January 15, based on the last time he was seen on video. It appears Coulibaly started the engine to warm up and likely fell asleep. He had gone to Montreal on January 14, after work around 11 p.m., to meet someone. He informed his roommates of the trip, and they became concerned when they still had not heard from him by January 18. His disappearance was reported to police in Trois-Rivières.
Using information from the investigation and data from the missing man’s cellphone, Montreal police made checks at an address on January 20. Coulibaly’s vehicle was found the next day a few streets away. The car had been moved during a snow-removal operation.
