The family of Cody Lowndes remember him as a man who was, at last, finding his way. The 27-year-old had struggled for much of his life, they said, but everything changed when his daughter was born. “Cody finally found a purpose in his life through his beautiful baby [daughter],” they said in a tribute released after his death on the M56, following a police chase.
That purpose, and the future it promised, is what his family now must grieve. “Cody was turning his life around,” they said. “The knowledge that his beautiful daughter will never know the real Cody that we all knew and loved is a hurt that we will struggle to heal, along with the knowledge that we will never get to see Cody live his life to his full potential. The potential we knew he always had.”
For those closest to him, the loss is deeply personal. “As a family we are heartbroken that our best friend Cody has passed away,” they said, adding that he will “live on in our hearts and memories.” They asked to be allowed to mourn in peace.
The circumstances of his death began shortly before 19:30 BST on Saturday, when Greater Manchester Police said officers spotted Lowndes riding a motorbike in a “dangerous manner” on the M60, near Stockport Pyramid. He was stopped by officers, according to the force, then left the bike and ran across the motorway, where he was struck by another vehicle. He died at the scene.
Because a police pursuit was involved, the force said it referred the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which decided an independent investigation was required.
Meanwhile, a second man, who police say was not involved in the initial pursuit, was arrested at the scene. He is suspected of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, and of causing death by driving uninsured.
Greater Manchester Police is asking anyone with information, dashcam footage or CCTV footage to come forward and contact the force.
Behind the procedural questions that will follow, his family’s words center on what was lost: a father whose daughter will grow up without knowing him, and a man they believe was finally becoming who he was meant to be.