Fear and nervousness are spreading through the town of Edson as students head back to school amid a murder investigation.

Schools were on lockdown Tuesday, after a second woman was attacked on an Edson pathway in broad daylight. The woman was confronted on the same trail system that Emily Stauffer, 14, was murdered Saturday afternoon.

"Neverracking, it's scary, like get this guy, I don't know....just everybody is freaking out," said parent Laura Rechenmacher.

One parent who was dropping her two boys off at school Wednesday morning said she will be buying a new deadbolt locks for all the doors in her home.

The Mayor of Edson, Greg Pasychny, says fear is slowly turning into anger.

"There's a lot of anger towards it, everyone wants to see him caught and none more then the RCMP," said Pasychny.

The Grand Yellowhead Regional School District has asked all parents to drop their children off at school or have them walk to school in a group.

"Our feeling on that is students are safer in a building being supervised," said Nicole Merrifield from the Grand Yellowhead Regional School District.

Schools have put in place a closed campus policy for all students.

"Once a student arrives at the school, they are asked not to leave the building or the school grounds until the end of the day," said Merrifield.

More than 40 police officers have been searching a large area in and around Edson in search of a killer. They are cautioning everyone in the town to stay off the trails.

The new rules have many students feeling frustrated.

"I am not allowed to go anywhere by myself anymore and doors always have to be locked all the time," said student Morgan Dschner.

The heightened security comes after a woman in her early twenties was accosted while she was walking along a path near the Tim Horton's on Edson's east side at about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon.

The details of the encounter have not been released, but the woman was taken to hospital for medical assessment after the incident.

This second attack comes only four days after 14-year-old Emily Stauffer was killed on the same system of trails. Police are baffled by the brazen incident.

"Until we have the opportunity to identify the person involved we will be as mystified as the next person, how in the face of having so many additional police officers in the community, how something like this could happen," said Cpl. Oakes.

An autopsy completed by the Medical Examiner Monday confirmed Stauffer was murdered, but the cause of death is not being released by investigators.

Police describe the suspect involved in the Tuesday attack as:

  • A white male
  • In his mid-twenties
  • Taller than 5'9"
  • Muscular build
  • Dirty hands
  • Black hoodie with white lettering on chest, red lettering on the edge of the hood
  • Black BOCA pants
  • Strong smell of body odor and cologne

Police will compare the details of this incident to any possible links to the Sept. 27 attack.

"Until we conduct further investigation into this we really cannot definitively say if there is any link or commonality between the two," said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

RCMP appeal to the public not to engage in any form of vigilantism.

Police ask the public to pass along any information about the possible suspect to them immediately.

With files from Kevin Armstrong and Bill Fortier

CTV News Edmonton is live in Edson. CTV reporter Kevin Armstrong will have a live report from Edson with the very latest on CTV News at 6.