After days of searching for a young couple from Atikameg First Nation, RCMP have confirmed the 17-year-old boyfriend has been found dead while a family member told Global News Tuesday night his 19-year-old girlfriend had been found dead as well.
“Tonight, they finally found my daughter deceased,” Louis Grey told Global News after he said a ground search volunteer found the body of his daughter, Cory. “We had lots of – lots of support from surrounding communities including this community. There were literally hundreds who were out searching.”
Louis said his daughter’s body was discovered in the vicinity of an old oilwell site about two kilometres from where he lives.
Dylan Laboucan, 17, and Cory Grey, 19, were reported missing Saturday night, after officers were called to Laboucan’s parents home for an unconscious man.
“This male had been found by a family member, injured, near a residence and when that male went to find some help… when he returned, this male was gone,” RCMP Insp. Gibson Glavin said Tuesday.
Louis said the person who found Laboucan unconscious was afraid which is why he decided to go get help.
“That guy sort of panicked,” Louis said. “He was scared to go into the trailer – no sign of my daughter, so he went next door to another residence… to go phone 911.”
When they got there, they couldn’t find Dylan or Cory and search parties began looking for the pair.
RCMP have confirmed Dylan’s body was found Monday at 7:40 p.m.
Watch below: A body was found Monday in the area where RCMP have been searching for two missing teens in northern Alberta. Sarah Kraus provides the details.
“At this time, we do not know if it’s a suspicious death or not,” Glavin said.
“Clearly, there are some unusual things about this that we definitely know – been injured at some point – so with the help of the medical examiner tomorrow, an autopsy should be able to help us out with how he died and … if we’re looking into a criminal investigation or not.”
“Cory had also not been seen for some period of time that weekend,” Glavin said. “There’s an obvious linkage between these two – with their relationship.”
Late Tuesday night, RCMP confirmed Grey’s body had been found in “a rural area outside of High Prairie” and that her body was found in a “different location from that of where the body of Laboucan had been discovered.”
An RCMP media release said: “It is too early to determine if this, or the death of Dylan Laboucan are as a result of foul play or are directly linked, but investigators are considering these possibilities given the circumstances.”
Sara Grey, Cory’s older sister, said the pair had been dating for nearly two years and lived together.
She said they had both been accepted to college in September – Dylan as an engineering technician and Cory as a pre-school teacher.
“She’s not the type of person this should have happened to,” Sara said. “She would never leave this long without telling anyone where she was going.”
The couple had plans to move to an apartment in Slave Lake soon, Sara said.
Cory came from a family of nine kids and her father said she was his youngest daughter. He said he lost his youngest son three years ago.
“My kids love her, all her nieces and nephews do,” Sara said.
The community had organized a search party.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who is helping. All the uncles and aunts walking around.”
Atikameg First Nation is roughly 90 kilometres northeast of High Prairie, Alta.
“I’m hoping she’ll be home soon, that she’s OK,” Sara said before Grey’s body was discovered. “That’s my baby sister and we all want her home.”
“She was very nice, innocent… both of them were nice, they were a nice couple,” Louis said of his daughter and her boyfriend. “”Everybody liked them. They were mostly homebodies… if they went somewhere it was usually with their parents or with us. This was very out of character for them to be gone and not even tell anybody. That’s why we knew right away something was wrong.”
The RCMP is asking anyone who may have information about the death of Laboucan and Grey to call the High Prairie RCMP detachment at 780-523-3370. Tips can also be anonymously submitted by contacting Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online.
RCMP said they expect to provide an update to the media on Wednesday after both autopsies are completed.
With files from Emily Mertz, Global News
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