Juliette Bombardier, 84, was found outside in freezing temperatures wearing only a nightgown. (CBC)

Police are investigating the death of an Alzheimer's patient who wandered away from a seniors' home in Kamloops, B.C.

Juliette Bombardier, whose family says she was 84, was found Friday morning outside the Pine Grove Care Centre.

She had been reported missing at 5:45 a.m. PT Friday, and was found dead outside at about 8 a.m. PT, wearing only her nightclothes. The temperature was –20 C at the time.

Bombardier's daughters, Carol and Arlene Daciuk, say they believe she may have left the home through an unsecured door that should have been locked.

This wasn't the first time Bombardier walked out of the facility, according to her daughters. They say Bombardier was also found outside the home on Dec. 23.

A spokesperson for the Pine Grove Care Centre said it doesn't appear any of the doors were unlocked at the time. (CBC)

"I went and actually talked to the head nurse that was on and asked her to please tell her staff again to lock the door. And then she was out again the next day because they didn't lock the door," Carol Daciuk said.

However, the vice-president of operations for Park Place Senior Living, the company that runs Pine Grove Care Centre, said all doors leading outside were locked.

"All of the doors are secured with what is known as [magnetic locks] … there are, of course, ways of bypassing those, but there's no evidence that a door was unlocked," Ian West said.

The family hopes an investigation will tell them how Bombardier managed to walk out of the care home.

"We were told we were in one of the best facilities around, and this happened in one of the better ones?" Arlene Daciuk said. "[I feel] very let down. We have our loved ones in these facilities that we want them to be safe in and how safe are they? This shouldn't have happened."

Carol, left, and Arlene Daciuk say their mother never should have been allowed to walk out of the care home. (CBC)

Bombardier's daughters say by telling their mother's story, they hope to bring light to issues facing seniors in care.

"It has to get out because we don't want this to happen to anyone else or any family. There's a lot of people in there [the Pine Grove Care Centre] and other homes," Carol Daciuk said.

The Pine Grove Care Centre, the Interior Health Authority, the Kamloops RCMP and the British Columbia Coroners Service are all investigating.