Mounties are hoping a coroner's report due Monday night will shed light on the identity of a woman found burned beyond recognition last week on Vancouver Island.
The woman was discovered by people walking along the popular Galloping Goose hiking and biking trail in Langford, B.C., a community just west of Victoria, at about 7 p.m. Friday night.
The cause of death is unknown, but police have classified it a homicide.
Investigators spent the weekend cross-referencing 29 missing person cases still outstanding in the area, said Cpl. Darren Lagan, but have so far been unable to identify the victim. Her body was sent to Vancouver on Sunday night for autopsy.
"Preliminary results are expected back today," Lagan said. "We're hoping we'll have an identity then."
No arrests have been made, and police are asking the public to take measured precautions. Women are advised not to walk or jog the trail alone, and to take a cell phone with them.
"There's nothing to indicate whether or not this was a random incident, and so the public is being asked to be extra vigilant," he said. "We know it's disconcerting."
Anyone who may have seen, heard, or even smelled anything suspicious on the trail between Atkins Road and Wale Road on Thursday or Friday is asked to contact police immediately.
"Regardless of how insignificant or small you think the information you have is, we ask that you please come forward."
A second body discovered on the trail less than two days later is considered to be unrelated, police say.
The man was found further north along the
A stretch of the 60 kilometre trail was closed over the weekend as police gathered evidence, but has since been reopened.
Neighbourhood reactions
Janice Baird is one of Langford's roughly 22,000 residents, and has lived on the island for more than 20 years. She works just west of the Galloping Goose trail on Wale Road.
She told ctvbc.ca she finds the lack of available details unsettling.
"We don't even know who the victim was," she said. "Was it a teenager, was it an adult, was it a party gone bad or some innocent person walking down the trail? Until we find out more information I don't think anyone will feel very safe."
She's also worried about children who use the trail to get to school.
"I have a teenager that rides the Goose on a bike," she said. "You always assume it's safer than going down Goldstream Avenue, but maybe not."
Stephen Robards is the resident manager of the West Shore Lodge, a seniors' home located just south of where the body was discovered. He said the grim discovery on the Galloping Goose wouldn't disrupt the seniors' bi-weekly walks on the trail.
"It's kind of important to them. We go rain or shine," he said.
Robards said he took a group out on Friday, just hours before the body was discovered.
"We were visited by the Constable," he said. "But we didn't see anything out there."
The seniors aren't worried, Robards added, but have been keeping a close eye on the investigation.
"The mood is more inquisitive than scared. They've been going out there every day to see what's going on."
