A man has been arrested and is being questioned by Calgary police in connection with the murder of a woman whose badly beaten body was found last week near the Franklin LRT station.

Police are questioning a man in connection with the murder of Arcelie Laoagan, who was found dead near the Franklin LRT station last week.
(CBC)

In a news conference held late Thursday, Insp. Guy Slater said charges had not been laid in the death of Arcelie Laoagan who was found by a passerby on Jan. 18.

"As you can appreciate this is a complex and sensitive investigation and the investigative team will be examining these recent developments to fully understand the involvement this suspect played in the homicide," said Slater.

He would not provide details on the man's arrest except to say he was taken into custody on Thursday afternoon. The man is not believed to have known Laoagan.

About 1,000 people — most of them from the Filipino community — gathered at the southwest Calgary Full Gospel Church to remember Laoagan Thursday night.

Police arrived as the memorial service was ending to share the development with the crowd, who responded with cheers.

Earlier, Marlyn Hori told mourners that the biggest challenge now will be fullfilling her sister's mission to bring her five children, aged 8 to 19, to Canada.

"She wanted nothing but a promising future for them and made a sacrifice to find work overseas," said Hori. "She was so close to accomplishing what she set out to do."

Arcelie Laoagan's siblings Caroline Maximo, left, Marlyn Hori, at the podium, and Oswald Sombrito, right, speak at her memorial.
(CBC)

Laoagan, who had not seen her family for six years, will be returned to the Phillipines where she will be buried.

The 41-year-old woman's identity was confirmed by Calgary's medical examiner Thursday using fingerprint samples provided by her family, who could not identify Laoagan due to the severe injuries she received to her face.

She was making her way home from her evening shift at a document-scanning company, one of her two jobs, on Jan. 17 when she was attacked.

Police have not revealed the cause of Laoagan's death or whether her attacker sexually assaulted her. They have been reviewing hours of video footage from surveillance cameras at various transit platforms.

Slater said women should not let down their guard while out at night because of news there is a suspect in custody.

A candlelight vigil for Laoagan is planned for the evening of Jan. 30 and a fund for her children has been established at Calgary's Centre for Newcomers.