Parents’ advocate urges caution following death of Burnaby teen

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to remove the victim’s name, which is now covered by a publication ban.

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – People living and using Central Park in Burnaby are still nervous, ten days after a 13-year-old girl was found dead in the green space.

A parents’ advocate says Moms and Dads have a reason to be worried with the girl’s killer still on the loose.

“That’s frustrating, for anybody in the community, but right now they need to be afraid and be very careful and watch their surroundings,” says Beverly Warnock with the group Parents of Murdered Children.

She understands it’s a frustrating time for everyone, but says people also need to let investigators do their job.

“It’s only been a week, you know that isn’t a very long time even though it does feel like a long time. Sometimes it takes a while to get all the pieces of this together to be able to share anything with the public.”

Though she says you have a right to be scared, she adds you can’t let the death of the Burnaby teen stop you from doing what you want.

“I do think you should take all precautions in case it is a stranger and be a little afraid until the answers come out. They may take months.”

Warnock says the days are gone when you could allow you kids to play without letting you know where they’re going.

Police still haven’t made any arrests in the case, nor have they said why they think the girl was killed.

She was last seen Tuesday evening around dinnertime, and her body was found seven hours later in Burnaby’s Central Park.

Investigators are putting more posters in the popular park near the border with Vancouver, looking for information.