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Siblings of Filipino immigrant Arcelie Laoagan are expected to identify her body today, and say they have no doubt their sister is Calgary's latest murder victim.
Oswald Sombrito and his two sisters, Marlyn Hori and Caroline Maximo, flew to Calgary from Toronto on the weekend after learning about Laoagan's apparent murder.
"It's a nightmare," younger brother Sombrito, 31, said yesterday.
"We want justice."
Laoagan, 40, was reported missing when she didn't return home after leaving work at West Canadian, 901 10 Ave. S.W., at 10 p.m. last Thursday.
She was last heard from when she made a panicked phone call to a friend to say she was being assaulted, before the line went dead.
At 6 a.m. Friday, the blood-soaked body of a woman matching Laoagan's description was found behind the Grace Baptist Church in the 2000 block of Radcliffe Dr. S.E.
Police have not released the identify of the victim, although Laoagan's family met with police yesterday.
Sitting down to lunch at a southeast restaurant yesterday, Laoagan's three siblings said they are struggling to understand the senseless violence in a country they immigrated to from the Philippines in search of a better life.
"It's so shocking -- I thought Canada is a safe place," said Hori, 43.
"If she died in an accident it would be easier to deal with. The way she died, it's horrible."
Describing his sister as deeply religious and demure, Sombrito said he can't understand why anyone would want to kill her.
"It's probably the wrong place at the wrong time. It can happen to anyone," he said.
Laoagan worked in Hong Kong for two years before coming to Calgary four years ago to work as a care giver, with hopes of earning enough money to bring her husband and five sons to Canada.
She last saw her family six years ago. Most recently, she worked full-time as a scanning operator for West Canadian, a digital printing company.
She also worked part-time as a server at a restaurant.
Her sons -- aged 8, 9, 10, 17 and 19 -- and husband recently began the process of immigrating to Canada to join Laoagan, who sponsored them.
But the family fears her death could jeopardize their applications.
Laoagan studied accounting in her homeland, and planned to continue education in Calgary to get a higher-paying job.