‘We want justice too:’ Lac La Biche community awaits answers after young woman’s death

Article content

Family and friends of Tytiana Janvier say they need answers after the 21-year-old woman was found dead in Lac La Biche last week.

Article content

RCMP said Tuesday that they are investigating after discovering a woman’s body last Thursday evening in a home along Churchill Drive, roughly 220 kilometers northeast of Edmonton.

An autopsy was set for Tuesday and a cause of death has yet to be released.

RCMP didn’t provide the woman’s name but numerous family members have identified her on social media as Janvier. Many people are sharing an image of a red handprint, a symbol used to spread awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women, with the words “justice for Tytiana Janvier” printed across it.

Norma Hope, a family friend who’s known Janvier for several years, said she last saw Janvier the night before she went missing last week.

“She just said, ‘I love you guys,’ and she was her happy self. I never thought anything like this would ever happen to her.”

Article content

Worry started to set in when Janvier went out last Thursday and didn’t return. Hope said the 21-year-old would usually check in with her family members regularly to let them know she was OK, and when they did n’t hear from her, they started searching for her.

Hope knew Janvier as outgoing and kind, and said she was the type of person who put others first.

Hundreds came together at a vigil to mourn Janvier over the weekend, and the family is planning another gathering for Tuesday evening, where Hope said they’ll honor Janvier with one of her favorite foods — hot dogs.

Janvier’s family and friends believe she was killed, but five days after she was found, RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said police don’t yet have enough information to publicly declare the death suspicious.

Article content

“We realize it’s a very contentious, difficult situation out in Lac La Biche right now over this investigation. And that issue with correctly identifying what we are investigating has caused this delay,” he said.

Savinkoff said police are still securing the home where Janvier was found, and the Alberta RCMP major crimes unit has been called in. No charges have been laid in the case so far.

“Are there charges coming? It’s hard to say,” Savinkoff said. “We’re doing the investigation and we’ll take it one step at a time.”

Hope said for now, she’s doing her best to support the grieving family.

“The community is really getting together, and we want justice too.”

[email protected]

Twitter: @meksmith