Edmonton police say a 29-year-old Montreal woman found dead in a northeast home Thursday was killed by strangulation and are looking to the public for help solving the case.
Valerie Maurice was found dead at a home in northeast Edmonton apartment on Thursday, after officers descended on the home with guns drawn and the canine unit in tow.
Friends had appealed on Facebook for help in finding Maurice, before she was found dead.
“From my understanding, what we know at this point is that Miss Maurice frequently visited Edmonton and stayed with friends," Edmonton police spokesperson Noreen Remtulla told CTV Montreal on Saturday.
Maurice's friend Crystal Jones said she went to Edmonton for work. She describes her friend as a woman who had a big heart, and that news of her death has been "a nightmare."
"You love your friends and she's not there anymore. You can't tell her anymore that you love her," she said.
"She was very nice, she had a big heart, but she was very discreet, she didn't talk a lot about her life," she added. "She needed a good guy but it never happened for her."
The building manager says the apartment Maurice was found in is owned by a couple; the woman was taken in for questioning and released by police, but the man is still missing.
The Edmonton Police Service is asking anyone with information on Maurice's death to come forward.
The Montreal police department say any information on the case they receive will be relayed to investigators in Edmonton.