Kimberly Proctor, the 18-year-old B.C. teen found dead on the Galloping Goose Trail.From Facebook
The last time Kimberly Proctor's parents saw her alive, the 18-year-old Pacific Secondary student was heading out the front door early Thursday morning to catch a bus.
Less than 36 hours later, her charred remains were found beneath a busy footbridge along the popular Galloping Goose trail, sparking a sweeping police investigation that now involves more than 40 officers from the RCMP and the Vancouver Island major crimes unit.
Tuesday, more than three days after her body was discovered next to some cement bridge pilings at the edge of Millstream Creek, police confirmed Ms. Proctor's identity and appealed to the public for information that might help them find her killer.
"We know that she was seen disembarking from the number 57 bus and walking down the sidewalk, but we don't know if she boarded another bus or not," said RCMP Corporal Darren Lagan.
She was seen at the Langford bus exchange, on Station Street, which is about three kilometres from the place where her body was found. She was wearing a distinctive black hoodie with the number 13 emblazoned on the front in large orange letters, Cpl. Lagan said.
Police yesterday refused to say if they have identified any suspects, and warned women to take extra precautions when walking on the Galloping Goose, at least until investigators have determined whether the killing was random or targeted.
"At this point we simply don't have those answers," Cpl. Lagan said. "We are at the point where investigators are working in all different directions as we speak."
Last evening, a group of between 20 and 30 friends and fellow students gathered on the bridge that crosses the narrow gorge where Ms. Proctor's body was found, holding a silent vigil, laying flowers and paying respects to their deceased friend, but declining to speaking with reporters.
One woman, who occasionally hired Ms. Proctor as a babysitter, called her "the most amazing person I know," but declined to give her name "out of respect for the family.
Almost 15 metres below the bridge next to the rushing, tumbling waters of Millstream Creek, half a dozen daffodils lay scattered over a charcoal black rock ledge where Ms. Proctor's body was set ablaze.
RCMP homicide investigators spent two and a half days gathering evidence at the scene, but could not make a positive identification on the victim until the B.C. Coroner's Service completed an autopsy late Monday.
"The body was damaged as a result of the fire… seriously enough that it stopped us from being able to do an ID on her," Cpl. Lagan said.
The B.C. Coroner's Service is conducting a more detailed examination aimed at pinpointing the cause of death and determining whether sexual assault played a role in the killing, he said.
Sooke School District (No. 62) superintendent Jim Cambridge said Ms. Proctor had been a student in the district since kindergarten.
"She's been with us for a lot of years, so lots of staff and students are affected throughout the system."
Ms. Proctor's godmother, Lucie Jackson, described the victim as a "typical teenager" who lived at home and was "looking forward to her graduation" in the June.
Ms. Proctor's family is grateful for the outpouring of community support they have received since their daughter's disappearance, but are too devastated to speak with the media, Ms. Jackson said "Right now they just need some time," she said.
Cpl. Lagan said the victim was not known to police, nor did she "get into situations that would draw attention from us."
However on Monday, hours before police confirmed Ms. Proctor's identity, her father, Fred, told CTV News his daughter spent a lot of time on social networking sites such as Facebook and MSN and expressed concern those activities may have played a role in her disappearance.
Police have seized the victim's computer to look for any possible online links to Ms. Proctor's murder.
Doug Clement, who lives in an apartment complex bordering the Galloping Goose less than 100 metres from the bridge where Ms. Proctor's body was found, said he smelled "something burning" as he was leaving his house Thursday afternoon "I thought 'that's a weird smell.' It wasn't like a barbecue or anything so I went back in to make sure I hadn't left the stove on," Mr. Clement said.
Another townhouse resident, Russell Kennedy, described the site of the killing as a "regular party place for teenagers" and said residents of the complex often hear "hooting and hollering" coming from the area at night.
"You can hear the water rushing from here, so you think if someone screamed you would hear that," he said.
Special to The Globe and Mail