DELTA, B.C. - A teenager murdered in a daytime attack at a suburban Vancouver park was laid to rest this week in a private family ceremony that was also attended by Hells Angels.
Delta police Sgt. Sharlene Brooks told reporters Thursday that police were aware Angels members attended the funeral of 15-year-old Laura Szendrei.
"They were there to pay tribute to friends whose daughter was tragically taken from them," the police spokeswoman said. "That's all I'm going to say."
Brooks appeared uncomfortable with the question and wouldn't say if police were focusing on any possible connection to the Angels.
"At this point we're not in a position, we're not able to say anything definitively," she said. "The Delta police are keeping a very broad perspective and we're considering any and all possibilities until we have evidence to determine otherwise."
Szendrei's family did not return a call seeking comment.
The death of the petite teen, who friends and acquaintances say didn't have any enemies, has caused concern throughout Delta, a bedroom community southeast of Vancouver.
Friends of Szendrei who had arranged to meet with her heard her scream and then found her badly beaten in the busy park last Saturday afternoon. It was a sunny day, many people were in the area and several organized games were being played in the fields nearby.
She died of her injuries the next day.
Police have received more than 150 tips. But investigators are still hoping more people come forward who were in the park, especially the wooded area where Szendrei was found, in the hours between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"We want to speak to them, anyone who may have seen or heard or observed anything suspicious or out of place," Brooks said.
When Brooks called the media to the news conference Thursday, the news spread to several friends of Szendrei's who wanted to attend for an update. She asked to meet with them later.
Several of the teenage boys who left the police building had shaved Szendrei's initials in their closely-cropped hair.
And in what is thought to be a first for Canada, Delta police are using what they're calling a trauma canine as a type of grief counsellor for the students at Szendrei's school, Burnsview Secondary.
A specially trained two-and-a-half-year-old yellow Labrador retriever named Caber visited students at the school and attended Szendrei's classes.
Kim Gramlich, with Delta Police Victim Services, said the dog has an extraordinary level of empathy that's non-judgmental.
"He'll know just the right person to put his head on their lap at just the right time," she said. "I think dogs also have an ability to appreciate who the most troubled or upset person in the room is."
Gramlich said she's been told the dogs can smell the pheromones in people's tears.
Caber, who doesn't bark, sat quietly and then flopped on the floor as photographers and cameramen got up close for a picture.
