Family and friends gathered on Tuesday to mourn an 18-year-old Vancouver Island girl who was found underneath a bridge on a popular hiking trail last week.
West Shore RCMP say Kimberly Proctor was last seen getting off a bus in Langford at approximately 10:20 a.m. Thursday. Her body was found almost a day later along the Galloping Goose Trail in Colwood, B.C., west of Victoria.
The 18-year-old was identified through an autopsy late Monday night. After hearing the news, a few of Kimberly's family members visited the bridge, which was marked by a memorial of flowers and photographs, to pay their respects.
"It was just good to say goodbye, and to know that we love her and we were looking for her and we miss her," said Kimberly's cousin Tina Braga.
"There's someone evil out there that needs to be found," said aunt Jo-Anne Landolt. "They hurt one person and it's just spread."
More than 40 investigators from the West Shore RCMP, the RCMP Forensic Identification Unit, Police Dog Services, Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit and the B.C. Coroners Service are working the case.
Mounties do not have a suspect in custody. Inspector Mark Fisher said they cannot rule out a risk to the public at this time.
"While we do not want to alarm anyone the fact remains that the person or persons responsible for this crime are still at large," he said.
Fisher urged cyclists and joggers using the path – especially women and girls – to exercise extreme caution.
Grief counsellors spent the day with Proctor's fellow students at Pacific Secondary. Jim Cambridge, superintendent of the Sooke School district, said students are in shock about the teen's death.
"We are deeply saddened and shocked to learn about the violent death of Kim Proctor, who has been a student in our district since Kindergarten," he said.
RCMP Island district spokesman Cpl. Darren Lagan says members are working around the clock to identify suspects and solve the horrific crime. Investigators are planning on using the internet as a tool in the major crimes probe, he said, adding that Proctor was more likely to be chatting with friends online than out partying.
A site on the social networking site Facebook was created after Proctor's disappearance last week. It is now filled with tributes from friends and family.
RCMP spokesperson Tim Shields says social networking has changed the way police operate in major crimes investigations.
"Especially if it involves a young person because typically young people will play their whole lives out for any and all to see online," he said, adding that the RCMP plans to make their own postings on social networking sites in an effort to look for witnesses.
"In any kind of major crime investigation we're going to take a look at what type of history a suspect or a witness or a victim has online."
A loved one posted a message online that Proctor's home computer was seized by police after her disappearance.
It is believed Proctor was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the number 13 printed on the front at the time of her disappearance. Investigators are asking anyone who may have seen her, or anything suspicious, to contact the West Shore RCMP at (250) 474-2264 or anonymously through Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
