LANGFORD, B.C. - Victoria-area Mounties say they are closing in on suspects they believe targeted and murdered a teenaged girl last month, a crime so sinister police say once the details become public, the community will be permanently scarred.
The RCMP called on several people Thursday to come forward with information about Kimberly Proctor's murder. RCMP Cpl. Darren Lagan said the unnamed people knew Proctor, know the suspects and have valuable information about her murder.
"This was a brutal and heinous crime, no question about that," Lagan said. "It will be one the community doesn't forget for a very long time."
Proctor's burned body was found March 19 in a ravine near the popular public Galloping Goose Trail less than 48 hours after her parents reported the Grade 12 student missing.
"Just the sheer discovery of her body, burned and disrespected in the way that it was," said Lagan. "We're confident Kimberly didn't die of natural causes and somebody burned her body. We know that this was a homicide and then she was burned."
On Thursday, investigators with a sealed search warrant were at a single-storey, wood-frame home on Happy Valley Road near the Galloping Goose Trail, which runs 60 kilometres from Victoria to Sooke.
Yellow police tape circled the home. Police cruisers were parked at the front and rear of the home, while a white police tent was pitched on the right side of the house and a trailer and truck were parked at the garage.
Officers in white evidence-gathering suits were seen in the garage area.
Neighbours said they believed a woman and a teenaged male lived at the home.
Laurie Zuffa said she saw Proctor in the neighbourhood and on area transit buses, but did not know her personally.
The home being searched by police is near Glen Lake, which was the subject of a search by police divers in late March. The lake is part of the Galloping Goose Trail.
Lagan said the Mounties probing Proctor's murder have identified suspects, but no one has been arrested.
"Our goal today with putting the information out is telling (the community) that we have suspects, and we know now that this was not a random attack," he said. "Kimberly's attackers were familiar with her."
He said 40 investigators are focused on the suspects, but police need the individuals with information to come forward.
"We're making an appeal today to some very specific individuals in the community," Lagan said.
"Those individuals know who they are. They are familiar with the suspects and they are familiar with what happened to Kimberly."
Lagan said Proctor knew the suspects, although he wouldn't say if they were classmates or reveal their ages.
"The best I can say is she was familiar with them and vice-versa," he said.
Lagan said investigators are aware of the anxiety surrounding the slaying and took the unusual step Thursday of revealing that suspects have been identified.
Police are confident Proctor's murder was not a random attack and hope word of the latest break in the case will reduce some of the worry, he said.
Lagan said it was too early and disrespectful to Proctor's family to draw parallels between her death and the November 1997 swarming and drowning death of Victoria teen Reena Virk.
Virk was originally beaten by eight teens, seven of them female. Later that same night, she was beaten a second time by two teens -- Warren Glowatski and Kelly Ellard -- and drowned.
Her death sparked a national debate about teen violence and rising violence among females. Virk's story is set to become the focus of a movie produced by actress Reece Witherspoon.
Lagan said police started searching the Happy Valley Road home on Wednesday night and expect to be there for up to two days.
Proctor was reported missing found after failing to show up for a babysitting job. Her body was found the next day.
It took investigators three days to identify her burned remains. Police haven't said how she died or speculated about what motivated the killing.
Police earlier said Proctor's social networking activity and the on-line posts of her friends and others led to a series of fits and starts in the investigation.
Proctor's Facebook page included a March 6 posting about her relationship with an unnamed boyfriend that she recently ended.
Proctor wrote she had to "dump him (because) he turned out to be psycho with really bad anger issues."
She also participated in the international Goth website vampirefreaks.com where she discussed being bullied by teenage girls.
Lagan said police examined those communications by Proctor and other people and some statements made there turned out to be false.
