Police warn women to be cautious as they hunt for killer

Victim's family says her face was beaten so badly they could not identify her

Last Updated: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 | 5:49 PM MT

CBC News

Calgary police renewed their warnings to women to take precautions while walking at night after an autopsy confirmed Tuesday that a woman found dead last week near the Franklin LRT station was a victim of foul play.

Arcelie Laoagan was found dead near the Franklin LRT station. She was making her way home after working an evening shift.
(Laoagan family)

The medical examiner's office is withholding the cause of death of the victim, named by family as Arcelie Laoagan, for investigative reasons.

Investigators said the homicide may have been a random attack and are looking at other reports of sexual assault in the city in recent weeks for similarities.

Police are telling women to stay in well-lit areas at night and with groups of people if they are waiting for transit. They also said women should scream and draw attention to themselves if they feel they are in danger.

Investigators said surveillance video shows Laoagan leaving the Franklin LRT station at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. Her body was found near the station on Friday morning. 

Laoagan, 41, worked the evening shift at West Canadian Graphics, a document-scanning company, trying to make enough money to bring her husband and five boys to Canada from the Philippines.

"The first time we heard the news, we can't believe," Oswald Sombrito, Laoagan's younger brother, said Monday. "It's like a dream. It's really a nightmare."

Police cordoned off an area near the Franklin LRT station Friday after Arcelie Laoagan's body was found by a passerby.
(CBC)

He and two other sisters flew in from Toronto to arrange for Laoagan's body to be sent back to the Philippines for burial.
 
Immigration officials said Monday they will make an exception and leave Laoagan's application open for her family to come to Canada.

Jane Mugford, vice-president of West Canadian Graphics, said the company has set up a $10,000 trust to help the family, even though Laoagan had only been with the company for five weeks.

Police comparing recent sexual assaults

Even though Laoagan's family has named her as the victim, they told CBC News her face was beaten so badly that they could not positively identify her on Tuesday.

Staff Sgt. Kevin Forsen said "conventional methods" of identifying the deceased have not worked and police are waiting for DNA analysis and help from the government in the Philippines.

Calgary police said they're looking at comparing the homicide with other cases, including a reported sexual assault in the Ogden area on Sunday.

A 32-year-old woman reported being grabbed by an unknown man while walking home from a southeast pub at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

She said she was able to escape her attacker by kicking him in the shin. He ran after her and grabbed her again. She managed to kick him in the groin and get into her home safely, said police.

The suspect in that case is described as:

• Caucasian, 30 to 35 years old.
• Six-feet tall, 180 pounds.
• Wearing a black toque, blue nylon pullover jacket and baggy jeans.
• Brown hair, long sideburns.
• Piercing in his lower lip and a tattoo on the back of his hand.

Police looking for two missing items

In the Laoagan case, Calgary police are still looking for a missing purse and a brown boot the victim was believed to have been wearing the night of her death.

Investigators are asking southeast residents near where Laoagan's body was found to check their garbage bins for a brown purse, shaped like a half moon with a shoulder strap. It's decorated with several shiny dots or sequins and may contain the victim's cellphone and identification.

They're also looking for a brown ladies ankle boot with a zipper up the side.

Police said large dumpsters in the area are being searched for the items before they're taken to a landfill.