Dunbar residents are reeling from a sense of deadly deja vu after a woman's body was discovered at Pacific Spirit Park.
Police swarmed the scene around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and cordoned off a portion of forest and trail near Camosun Street and 33rd Avenue after the discovery, and removed the body Sunday afternoon.
Sgt. Peter Thiessen urged residents of the area not to draw parallels between the grisly discovery and the murder of Wendy Ladner-Beaudry, who was found dead April 3, 2009 inside the same park just eight blocks south of the current scene.
"The neighbourhood and the community may unduly and prematurely alarm themselves and create concern that may not be valid," the RCMP spokesman said. "We're not making any assumptions at this point and we're ruling nothing out."
But joggers and pedestrians who travelled by streets once more lined with police tape were visibly shaken.
"It's horrible," said area resident Chris Wiens. "I think women always have to look over their shoulders as it is. Everywhere we go we have to look over our shoulders."
Despite fear and trepidation, Wiens' sister-in-law Inga continued to run through the park after the Ladner-Beaudry murder. She's now calling for a greater police presence.
"I really believe the park should be patrolled by police on horseback," Inga said. "It's the only way to patrol the area ... to put people's minds at ease."
Others are doing anything possible to support the police investigation.
Scott Rogers, who lives next door to where Mounties were stationed, told police of a suspicious man he spotted sleeping in the park Saturday at 1 a.m.
Police had yet to deem the case a homicide or identify a suspect but called in the region's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team to support lead officers.
Sgt. Thiessen added investigators were close to identifying the deceased Sunday afternoon after making contact with people believed to be her family but couldn't say how she met her demise.
The investigation continues today at the scene.