Friends of Saladina Vivancos say that more than a week after she was found dead north of Spruce Grove, Alta. they still have no answers as to what happened to the 33-year-old.
On Nov. 17 around 1:30 a.m., RCMP found the woman’s body near Township Road 532A and Range Road 274, just north of Highway 16 in Parkland County.
They’d been called to assist paramedics with a complaint of a woman in medical distress. However when they arrived, first responders determined she was already dead.
An autopsy determined Vivancos was the victim of a homicide — however RCMP have not released the cause of death.
READ MORE: RCMP investigating Parkland County homicide
In a GoFundMe posted on Sunday, organizer Andrea Soler Labour wrote “We have recently been informed that our sister Saladina Vivancos is no longer with us, it feels as if we are living a nightmare that we can’t awaken from.”
Vivancos was described as being “full of life, full of love and the most generous human being in the planet. Always putting the whole world before her, and going above and beyond for everyone else even strangers.”
The GoFundMe will help pay for expenses to bring Vinvancos’ body from Alberta back to Kelowna, B.C. and also to cover travel expenses for family members.
“We are shattered, we are broken, still in disbelief that this could be a reality,” Labour wrote.
Stephanie Shuttleworth, who met Vivancos at high school in Kelowna, said the victim lived in the Okanagan city but was visiting Edmonton area.
“She was a ray of sunshine, she could light up a room. She was feisty and would stand up for those she loved.”
Shuttleworth said Vivancos went by the nickname “Nani” and tied together various groups of people. In high school, she taught Shuttleworth how to speak Spanish.
“We just miss her so much. I hope they find the person that did this to her.”
Another family friend, Candace Parker, said that Vivancos worked as a waitress at a casino in Kelowna.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Parker said. “The last person you would ever think. The nicest person in the world — that went the way she did.
“It’s been awful.”
Parker hopes someone out there has information that could lead to an arrest.
“We want something, anything, and there’s been nothing,” she said.
RCMP have not released any information about a suspect. Spruce Grove is about 20 kilometres west of Edmonton.