Emily Stauffer was killed on Sept. 27. (CBC)

The "new normal" is how Emily Stauffer's father describes his family's life since the Edson teenager was killed on a walking path outside the Alberta town on Sept. 27.

"How are we doing is a question we get a lot," Terry Stauffer said in an interview that aired Wednesday on CBC Radio's Edmonton AM, the first Stauffer and his wife, Juanita, have given since Emily died.

"We're getting back to, a friend used the phrase, the new normal," he said. "We're doing quite well. We're getting back to routine. But obviously, it's the little unexpected things on a regular basis that kind of blindside us and take us all back, and bring everything back."

Memories of Emily bubble up in unexpected places for Juanita Stauffer as well.

"There's just little bits of poetry or letters we get from people … that, you know, just cause us to think again about it," she said, her voice cracking. "But it's not that we never think about her because we are, pretty much all the time."

Emily Stauffer, 14, was attacked on a popular wooded walking path at about 4:30 in the afternoon in the northwest part of the town, which is 200 kilometres west of Edmonton.

The day was beautiful and unseasonably warm, and she had decided to go for a walk before going to a babysit at a family friend's house, her father said.

After Emily didn't show up at the house, Stauffer went looking for her. When he came across police officers investigating an attack on a walking trail, he passed on a picture and description of his missing daughter.

"A couple of hours later, the police came and confirmed it was Emily that was attacked and killed on the path that evening," he said.

Police have yet to find Emily Stauffer's killer.

In the week after the slaying, RCMP released composite sketches of two men they said are not considered suspects but are people they want to speak with. Police told CBC News the case is not cold, and 14 officers are still dedicated to the investigation.

Faith comforts family

The Stauffers have yet to return to the spot on the path where their daughter was killed.

Juanita Stauffer said she is still grappling with the idea that something like a daughter being killed could happen to her family.

"We feel like we're pretty normal parents and a normal family.… Even when we saw, you know, her picture on the front page of the paper, we just thought, 'That can't be us,' " she said.

Terry Stauffer is a pastor at the local Baptist church, and the family is relying on their deep faith, their family and the community to help them through this difficult time.

The couple also takes comfort in their memories of their daughter's final days, he said.

"We don't really have big regrets, unfinished business, in our relationship with Emily and we're so thankful for that," he said. "There was a memory for both of us of really good open conversations recently, the big hug, and the 'I love you.' "

With files from Adrienne Lamb