UPDATE: Murdered mother’s ex husband found hanging from tree in Vancouver

A tragic case of domestic violence has left a four-year-old boy without either of his parents.

According to police, 27-year-old Thi Tam Nguyen was brutally murdered in the East Vancouver basement suite where she lived Saturday.

Police said they were called to the victim’s home on East 41st Avenue near Rupert Street Saturday afternoon and quickly determined the murder was targeted.

In the last several years, officers had been called to the house at least three time for domestic abuse complaints, according to documents.

Her estranged husband Cong “Danny” Nguyen, 31, was charged with assault twice in 2011, but it is not known if he was convicted, police said.

In 2013, police attended the residence again for another domestic violence call, but there wasn’t enough evidence to press charges.

After finding Nguyen’s body, investigators began searching for Cong right away and were able to locate his vehicle abandoned in Richmond near Shell Road and River Road.

The former couple’s four-year-old son was located unharmed and taken into custody before being released into the care of family and friends.

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The search for a suspect ended Sunday afternoon when a 13-year-old pedestrian found Cong’s lifeless body hanging from a tree on a trail near Gladstone Park off Kent Avenue, police said.

Police and paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene. Police said his death is believed to be a suicide.

According to investigators, this tragic case highlights the issue of domestic violence in Vancouver.

This death marks Vancouver’s sixth homicide of the year. In the last six weeks, there have been at least seven serious incidents of domestic violence, some fatal, in B.C.

With files from Rumina Daya