A Winnipeg man was found dead in a locked hospital washroom 12 hours after vanishing from his bed in the same facility.

Relatives of Brian Childs say they are trying to figure out what happened to the 61-year-old man and whether the hospital could have done anything to prevent his death.

Childs, who had cancer and other serious health issues, went to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on Aug. 19, saying he was not feeling well.

He was treated and scheduled to be discharged on Aug. 31 – the same day he went missing and died. All of his belongings, except for his scooter and cell phone, were still in his hospital room.

“How can you lose a patient?” Childs’ sister, Sandra Klassen, said in an interview with CTV Winnipeg.

Family members say Childs was seen going into a washroom in the hospital on the morning of Aug. 31. It was 12 hours after that, they say, that his body was discovered.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says it is investigating the circumstances around Childs’ death.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Josh Crabb