Days after human remains were found in Calmar, police said the person found dead had been identified as a woman from Camrose.
Police said Mackenzie Leah Harris, 22, had been reported missing on August 1 – she was found in a forested area in Calmar on Monday evening.
An autopsy was conducted Tuesday evening, and confirmed Harris’ death was a homicide.
RCMP said Harris, who is also the mother of a young boy, was reported missing by a friend, and efforts to find her were ongoing when her body was found.
Harris’ friend Haley Story told CTV News she called police after seeing a message from Harris Saturday on social media.
“I contacted the RCMP because I’m friends with her on Facebook and she made a status update of ‘I’m in trouble’, something to do with ‘I’m in Leduc, I have no shoes’ and if someone could help her,” Story said, saying the message was posted early Saturday morning.
“[The] Medical Examiner’s Office has determined her death is a homicide,” RCMP Insp. Gibson Glavin said Wednesday. “We cannot release details as to time or cause of death due to investigational considerations that are ongoing.”
Harris was last heard from in Leduc on August 1, police said she was 168 cm (5’6”) tall, and weighed 64 kilograms (145 lbs) with dark hair and brown eyes.
Police are asking anyone who may have seen or heard anything unusual, or may have residential video surveillance in the area of Aileen Faller Park in Leduc between July 31 and August1 to contact Leduc RCMP at 780-980-7200.
Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
“We want to encourage the public to continue to search their memories and think carefully about what they may or may not have heard or seen or known about anything to do with Mackenzie Leah Harris over the weekend,” Insp. Glavin said.
Investigators said there is nothing to indicate Harris’ death is connected to any other historical homicides being investigated in the Rolly View area of Leduc County.
With files from Nicole Weisberg and David Ewasuk
