Brother of murdered teen Marrisa Shen urges public to help bring family closure

Marrisa Shen's brother speaks out For the first time since Marrisa Shen's murder, her family is offering a glimpse into the teenager's life.

Before her murder shocked families across Metro Vancouver, 13-year-old Marrisa Shen was a typical teenager; she liked superheroes, Harry Potter and video games.

Many of her favourite things she learned from her older brother, Peter, who shared a glimpse into the young girl's life in an exclusive interview with CTV News.

"For me, she's always the kid that follows me around and likes whatever I like and plays the things that I play," he said.

It's only been a little over a month since Marrisa's life was cut tragically short, and Peter's memories of her are painfully vivid. He recalled taking her out for hamburgers, or driving her out to Ikea for the meatballs.

"I can just see her and I sitting there and it's so tough," he said.

Peter, who is 11 years older, describes Marrisa as having been fairly quiet around their family home, but happy. The Burnaby teenager looked up to him, though their age gap meant they mainly connected through pop culture.

Peter said he was eager for her to grow up so they could bond on a deeper level.

"A lot of the things I go out and experience, I always think that one day I would be able to bring her along with me and show her," he said.

Peter was studying in China when his little sister went missing the evening of July 18. They had texted back-and-forth just hours earlier when Marrisa asked him for his T-shirt size. She wouldn't tell him why, but he expects she was planning to buy or even sew something for him.

"She likes making things," Peter said.

Their mother was anxious when Marrisa first went missing, but Peter didn't worry much. He figured her phone had died while she was hanging out with friends.

He learned the terrible truth hours later, at around 2 a.m. in Vancouver, when he tried to call Marrisa's number one more time.

"It wasn't her that picked up, it was a police officer. And he just told me usually they don't break news like this over the phone, but they'd found my sister's remains," Peter said.

"The word 'remains' – I can still hear the word how he said it."

Marrisa's body was found in Central Park. It's just across the street from their apartment, and her family said she used to love spending time there walking or jogging.

Back home now in Burnaby, Peter said it's terrible to imagine her killer is still on the loose – and was potentially even among them as they grieved at her funeral.

Police have asked anyone with video from Marrisa's vigil or funeral to turn it over, though they stopped short of suggesting the murderer was in attendance. The possibility had never occurred to her family before, but now, Peter said, his imagination has run wild.

"Murderers, they return to the scene of the crime, they want to see these things. It could happen," he said.

The family is slowly recovering, though their mother still breaks down crying two or three times a day. Peter said the support from the community has meant a lot to them through their grief. He believes it would have meant a lot to his sister, also.

"Even now, people are still bringing flowers and gifts and candles," Peter said. "She would appreciate so much that so many people care about her like this – [about] what happened to her – and she would be so grateful that so many people came out for her."

Police are already in the process of reviewing thousands of hours of video footage from more than 60 locations, and following up on nearly 200 tips. But they still need help solving the case, and Peter pleaded with anyone who might know something to come forward.

To everyone who already has, Peter offered his thanks, "from the bottom of my heart."

With files from CTV Vancouver's David Molko