Kelowna murder victim identified

It was last Wednesday when an orchardist found a young woman’s body on his property, in plain view, just metres away from Cooper Road.

RCMP are calling it a murder.

Since then, police have said very little about the victim, but Global Okanagan has learned her identity.

Her name was Russia Nicholson. She also went by the name of Katalina Nich.

Her Facebook indicates she was from Mission B.C. and that she loved her father who passed away more than a year ago.

Her last Facebook post was on August 8, when she posted a selfie.

Her older sister, Naomi, has let friends know through Facebook that her younger sister passed away, saying:

“My baby sister. Love u to the moon and back more than u could have ever known.”

View image in full screen

Global Okanagan has also learned that Nicholson was struggling with life before her death.

She would sometimes hang out on Leon Avenue in front of the Gospel Mission where she made a number of friends.

One of those friends was Karina Derby, a recovering drug addict. She said Nicholson also suffered from drug addiction.

Derby said she tried to help Nicholson.

“I’ve been asking her for the past six months if she needed help to come to us and we would help her. Unfortunately, it’s too late now,” she said.

Derby said she last saw Nicholson about a week ago and that she hadn’t slept for days because she was high on drugs.

She said news of Nicholson’s murder comes as a complete shock.

“I can’t understand what happened. She’s not somebody you would want to hurt,” she said.

Derby wasn’t sure of Nicholson’s age. She figured she was in her mid to late 20’s. Police are still searching for her killer.