Hailey Belanger-Weeseekase had a big heart, loved ones say.
Her friends say she was generous and funny, and could make anyone smile on a bad day.
On Wednesday, dozens of friends and family members grieved her death in the alley where she was found dead.
The 19-year-old’s body was found in a vehicle behind an apartment complex in the 3700 block of Diefenbaker Drive on Saturday afternoon. Saskatoon police are investigating the death as a homicide.
Chelsa Morrison teared up remembering the moment she found out her friend had died, calling it baffling.
“I want Hailey to be remembered as the person who had a very big heart — the person who would take her shirt off her back and give it to you when you had absolutely nothing,” said Morrison, who helped organize the vigil.
Family confirmed Belanger-Weeseekase was involved with a gang. Her older sister, Tamara Weeseekase, said the 19-year-old was much more than that.
‘The sweetest person around’
“She loved animals so much. Pugs were her favourite breed of dog and she always wanted to have one,” Tamara wrote in a message to Global News.
“She was definitely a creative person. She would draw sometimes, but most of her art was in the form of makeup.”
She said her sister had goals, hoping to become a vet or makeup artist.
Aubrie Grasby said Belanger-Weeseekase was the first friend she made when she moved to Saskatoon.
Grasby described her as kind and loving.
“If you hadn’t eaten in four days, she would make a meal for you and make sure you were so full that you were falling asleep before you were done eating,” she said with a smile.
“Heaven’s gained another angel as we’ve lost one, but she was the sweetest person around.”
Belanger-Weeseekase’s grandmother, Donna McArthur, called her ‘wicahpi kinyewin’ — ‘flying star woman’ in Dakota.
In a Facebook post, McArthur wrote that her granddaughter was interested in learning about her Dakota, Lakota and Nakota ancestry.
“Now, you’re flying with our ancestors,” she wrote.
“Your smile, your laugh is embedded in my memory.”
Police are asking anyone with information about Belanger-Weeseekase’s death to contact them or Crime Stoppers.