RCMP investigators opened a homicide investigation Thursday into the death of a 14-year-old boy found in February in Surrey, B.C.

The body of Justin Peter Vasey was found near this abandoned house in Surrey, B.C, on Feb. 25, police said Thursday.
(CBC)

Justin Peter Vasey was found on Feb. 25 after police were called about a group of teenagers congregating at a burned-out home in the Guildford area of Surrey.

When they arrived, police initially missed Vasey's body when they searched the area around the abandoned house.

They found an unconscious male two blocks away. He was tended to and taken to hospital.

When police went back to the home, they found the dead teenager behind it.

According to Cpl. Dale Carr, a spokesman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, the police initially ruled the death suspicious.

"We're trying to identify who Justin hung out with, who he would have been with that day, that night, and what brought him to that location," said Carr.

Students posted hundreds of messages about Vasey on the website Facebook.

Some postings said he had been bullied while a Grade 8 student at Enver Creek Secondary School in Surrey.

Carr said there is nothing to substantiate rumours on the internet.

"We have nothing in direct fact or direct evidence that bullying is involved in this, or is the high school involved."

Police have spoken to Vasey's family, but there are still many unanswered questions.

"What we are hopeful is that people will be watching, and they will know Justin, and they will know who he was hanging with, and they will come forward to the police," said Carr.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact them through the IHIT TIP line at 1-877-543-9217. People who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.