UPDATE, Aug. 5, 11:30 a.m.
Highway 400 southbound has reopened through Barrie and the search for the vehicle believed to be involved in Friday morning's fatal hit-and-run is underway.
The southbound lanes of Highway 400 had been closed from Bayfield Street to Essa Road through Barrie after a man's body was found by an off-duty police officer along the side of the road near the Dunlop Street bridge just after 4 a.m.
At 11 a.m., Ontario Provincial Police announced the highway's southbound lanes have been reopened at Bayfield Street after officers completed their on-scene investigation.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said a 27-year-old Barrie man has been identified and his family has been notified. The victim's name has not been released.
“There was vehicle debris on the scene and we are following leads for a possible suspect vehicle,” Schmidt said. “We are not sure why the pedestrian was on or near the highway. There is no vehicle nearby that was theirs and they were a far distance from the overpass, but the investigation will continue.”
The on-scene investigation was focused on the side of the highway, just south of of the Dunlop Street overpass. As many as eight OPP vehicles were parked alongside the road as officers searched for clues in the lanes beside the southbound on-ramp this morning.
Anyone with information that could be helpful in the investigation is asked to call Aurora OPP at 905-841-5777.
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The southbound lanes of Highway 400 are closed through Barrie after a body was found early Friday morning along the side of the road.
Ontario Provincial Police have closed the southbound lanes from Bayfield Street to Essa Road for the investigation.
Police are appealing for witnesses after the body of a deceased male was located on Highway 400 southbound near Dunlop Street just after 4 a.m.
"We do believe he was hit by a vehicle. There is trauma to the body," OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Aurora OPP at 905-841-5777.
