Memorials planned for 13-year-old
As homicide investigators quietly search for a Burnaby teen’s killer, her family and friends are reeling from the sudden, inexplicable loss of a sweet girl known for her sense of humour and bright personality.
Marrisa Shen, 13, was reported missing at 11:30 p.m Tuesday and her body was found in the southeast area of Central Park at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday. On Thursday, police revealed that her death was a homicide and that they did not have a suspect or know a motive.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has so far kept tight-lipped about their work to find Shen’s killer, holding back information such as the apparent cause of death and the nature of a telephone conversation Shen had around 5 p.m. the day she went missing.
Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University, said holding back information is a common tactic in homicide investigations, where details of the crime that only the killer would know could become useful in subsequent investigative work.
“(Investigators) don’t want to tip off any suspects with respect to information that they might have,” Boyd said.
He said investigators will be focused on speaking to every one of Shen’s associates in order to rule out potential suspects.
IHIT spokeswoman Cpl. Meghan Foster said Thursday that evidence gathered by investigators had not yet indicated whether Shen was targeted or the victim of a random attack.
Boyd said it was a “little unusual” for police to have not yet made such a determination.
“Most often, homicides do take place among people who know each other very well,” he said.
On Thursday, IHIT released surveillance video from an apartment building near the crime scene showing Shen apparently walking toward the building hours before she was last seen leaving her Burnaby home at 6:02 p.m. Tuesday.
Boyd said the video could trigger a memory in someone who might have seen Shen because she was dressed distinctively that day.
Foster was not reachable for an update on IHIT’s investigation Friday but on Thursday stressed the importance of the public coming forward with whatever information it may have.
“Ms. Shen was a good kid and she’s missed dearly by her family right now,” Foster said. “They’re in the initial stages of grieving and we’re working and doing the best we can to find those responsible, and we need the help of the public.”
Police continued their search of Central Park on Friday, where most of the yellow tape barricading the area had been taken down. Just outside the park’s southeast parking lot, flowers, a candle and stuffed animals had been left in a makeshift memorial for the teen.
A student handbook from Moscrop Secondary School, where Shen was meant to start Grade 9 in the fall, had been placed there with a message: “We are in your community and our hearts hurt for what has happened. May peace find you.”
Raquel Castoldi, 13, Shen’s classmate last year at Moscrop, visited the site with her mother to leave flowers. Castoldi said Shen was known for telling jokes in class and for her bright personality.
“She was a good girl and she was very funny,” she said. “I will miss her.”
On Saturday at 6 p.m., friends of Shen and her family will attend a small private memorial in Burnaby.
A public rally is planned for 7 p.m. Saturday at Patterson Avenue and Mayberry Street, according to a Facebook event page.
Anyone who may have seen Shen after 6 p.m. on Tuesday is asked to contact investigators at 1-877-551IHIT or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.