Fraser Lake community in disbelief over teen’s murder

The northern B.C. village of Fraser Lake remains in mourning following the suspected murder of Loren Donn Leslie, 15, on the weekend.

The body of the popular teen, who was legally blind, was discovered near a remote, snow-covered, abandoned logging road 22 kilometres north of Vanderhoof on Saturday night.

Cory Alan Legebokoff, 20, of Prince George was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the case.

“Everybody certainly can’t believe that it happened,” Fraser Lake Mayor Dwayne Lindstrom told The Province Tuesday.

“A lot of people knew her or her family.

“It’s an old-time family here.

“They have been here so long, that family has a lot friends.”

Lindstrom said Loren endured her blindness with good cheer, and few people were aware of her disability.

“She was always very polite and pleasant – to me, anyways, and I’m sure everybody,” said Lindstrom.

“She certainly was a nice young lady.

“It’s a tragic death with her being so young.

“She had her whole life ahead of her.

“We’ve just got to try and support her family, and hope that they can get through this.”

Lindstrom said Fraser Lake, a village of about 1,200 residents, is “a very tight, little community.

“They’ve always been known to help each other.”

Students at Loren’s high school in Vanderhoof had grief counselling made available to them for the second straight day Tuesday.

An itinerant team of four counsellors, plus the two regular counsellors at Nechako Valley Secondary School, were on hand to deal with the students’ emotions, Ray LeMoigne, superintendent of School District 91 (Nechako Lakes), told The Province.

“We also have our senior district staff that have training in that area, as well, that are available.

“The confusion for young people, and the sadness and the disbelief and all of that, is just something that we all deal with. “This young lady was very close to many of her teachers and her friends.”

The Leslie family has requested privacy while they deal with the tragedy, said RCMP media liaison Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

Legebokoff, who has no previous criminal record, is scheduled to make his first appearance on the charge before a judge in a Prince George court Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.

An autopsy on Loren’s body will be conducted Wednesday in Kamloops.