A 71-year-old Canadian motorist drove for 220 miles with the body of his dead wife beside him in the passenger seat across US.
The couple was returning home early from a holiday in Oregon after the 75-year-old wife had begun experiencing health problems.
The woman died during the journey close to the town of Pasco, Washington.
Her husband told police that he had carried on driving because he simply didn’t know what to do.
About 20 miles south of Canada the man pulled over to call authorities to find out whether he could cross the border with her.
The motorists’ emergency system OnStar put him in touch with dispatchers in Okanogan County who persuaded him to stop in the town of Tonasket.
Local Police Chief Robert Burks said: “He wasn’t sure what to do, so he kept driving.
“I believe that different permits have to get done to get a body across. I think that’s all they’re waiting for.”
The woman was taken to the North Valley Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Police said they are not treating the woman’s death as suspicious but taking a body across the border requires certain paperwork.
The woman’s body will remain in the U.S. until it can be legally transported across the border.
