Death a targeted homicide
Police have no motive in murder of woman found Thursday
Vancouver police are investigating the death of a woman in Stanley Park as a targeted homicide.
Thi Yen Le, a 33-year-old Surrey resident, was identified as the victim late Thursday. Const. Brian Montague said it’s not clear if she was attacked in the park or dumped there.
Montague said the victim is known to police. He said this was not a random attack, ending earlier speculation the victim may have been on an early morning jog through Stanley Park, a popular spot for people to go running before work.
Police do not yet have a motive or suspect in the attack, and they are not saying what type of weapon was used. “I won’t comment on how the woman was killed,” Montague said. “The information that we have would indicate that this was a targeted attack.”
Around 6 a.m. Thursday, a park caretaker found the woman in medical distress and called 911.
Paramedics were called, but were unable to revive the woman and she died in the park.
It was Vancouver’s fifth homicide of the year.
Earlier in the day, Montague had said it was too early to say whether the slaying was gang-related, but noted that investigators believe they knew who the victim was.
At Brockton Oval early Thursday, police officers had cordoned off the entire area across to the totem poles as they investigated.
A coroner and investigators from the Vancouver police major-crime section were on scene.
About a half-dozen police cars were at the site and a VPD mobile command centre was set up.
A tent had been put up at the entrance to the pavilion, where detectives were conducting a forensic search near where a body lay, covered in white plastic.