Winnipeg Police Service has confirmed Kevin Runke is dead following an investigation Monday near St. Malo.

Danny Smyth is Deputy Chief of Investigations. He says investigators had been trying to locate and speak with Runke following the death of his estranged wife Friday in St. Boniface.

"She was discovered at the rear of a business on Marion Street," says Smyth. "Her death was caused by an apparent gun shot."

Homicide investigators were in St. Malo Monday to check on an address linked to Kevin Runke. They encountered a vehicle associated to him and attempted to execute a traffic stop, but the driver of that vehicle instead swerved through the ditch and into a wooded area before coming to a rest.

"The investigators did not pursue or engage with the vehicle or the occupant," notes Smyth. "They held their position a safe distance away and called for backup."

RCMP responded and after securing the scene they found a lone male occupant dead in the vehicle. He has been identified as 44 year old Kevin Runke of Winnipeg, the estranged husband of Camille Runke, who was found dead in Winnipeg Friday.

Winnipeg Police Service says the death appears to be the result of a self inflicted gunshot wound.The death will be investigated by the Independent Investigations Unit while homicide investigators will continue with the homicide investigation. Smyth says Kevin Runke is the suspect in the murder of Camille Runke.

Investigators did not have grounds to arrest Runke for homicide prior to encountering him in the St. Malo area.

"We would have called him a person of interest," says Smyth. "But there was no evidence gathered prior to that that would have given us the grounds to arrest him for the homicide."

Though officers were aware of an address associated to Runke in St. Malo, his body was not located at that address.

According to Smyth, the Runkes separated in June of this year. Between July and October, investigators heard from Camille on 22 separate occasions where she reported incidents ranging from property damage to harassment. Kevin Runke was cautioned by police in early July to stop contacting his estranged wife.

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