The B.C. NDP's health critic is calling for an independent investigation into the death of a woman who died after wandering away from a seniors' home in Kamloops, B.C., Friday morning when the temperature was –20 C.

Because the Interior Health Authority is responsible for reviewing homes like the Pine Grove Care Centre, which was caring for 84-year-old Juliette Bombardier, Adrian Dix said it should not investigate her death.

"I think it's important that we move to an independent system which will bring greater confidence to the sector as a whole. Bring seniors greater confidence in the quality of care," Dix said Sunday.

Bombardier, an Alzheimer's patient, was reported missing at 5:45 a.m. Friday. Her body was found two hours later. She had wandered outside wearing only her nightclothes.

Bombardier's daughters, Carol and Arlene Daciuk, said their mother had walked out of the facility days before and believe she may have left through a door that should have been locked.

"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.

The vice-president of operations for Park Place Senior Living, the company that runs Pine Grove Care Centre, contends all doors leading outside were locked but admit there are ways of bypassing the locks.

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

Besides Interior Health, the Pine Grove Care Centre, Kamloops RCMP and the British Columbia Coroners Service are also investigating Bombardier's death.