Burnaby RCMP's homicide team had been investigating after finding a burning body in a park on Thursday.
The Burnaby Fire Dept had confirmed that they were called to Greentree Village Park for a bush and grass fire close to 1:50 a.m. on Thursday.
Burnaby RCMP later concluded the person had suspicious injuries and Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has taken over the case since.
#IHIT has taken conduct of a new file in the 4300 block of Garden Grove Drive, #Burnaby, where human remains were found. Media availability at the scene later this morning. Time TBA.
— IHIT (@HomicideTeam) March 18, 2021
The human remains were found close to a playground near the Deer Lake park area not too far way from BCIT's main campus.
IHIT says charges have been laid in connection with the burned body discovered in Burnaby's Greentree Village Park on March 18.
Ma Cecilia Loreto's burned body was found in Burnaby's Greentree Village Park last Thursday morning. A 21 year old and a 15 year old are now charged with 1st degree murder and indignity to human remains. All involved knew each other.
Sgt. Frank Jang with IHIT says Carlo Tobias, 21, was charged Tuesday morning with first-degree murder and indignity to human remains. A 15-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, faces the same charges.
“We have a very good idea of what happened. We have a narrative. We have a very good theory. But all that information, right now, isn’t for public consumption,” he said. “I know there’s a lot of people that would like to know what happened … but those details must first and foremost be provided within the judicial process, in court.”
“She was a mother, had a loving family,” Jang said of the victim. “We had to deliver the news of two people now being charged with their loved one’s murder. As we can all understand, they’re devastated.”
Mounties believe this was a targeted killing.
“This was not gang-related. This was not drug-related. This was not a random incident,” Jang said.
None of them are known to police.
Photo courtesy of IHIT.
