The fiancée of a man found dead in the snow after a crash last week in Ottawa is remembering him as a devoted father who worked long hours and came so near to seeing his family again.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario’s police watchdog, said Ottawa police responded at 11:30 p.m. that night to reports of a vehicle rollover.

Officers did not locate anyone in or around the vehicle, the SIU said, and subsequently left the scene.

But the next morning, a police officer returned to the scene and found a dead man nearby, beneath the snow.