Alicia Boone's death still deemed 'suspicious'
RCMP are still struggling to find answers in the suspicious death of a pregnant woman north of Fredericton nearly a month ago.
The body of Alicia Dawn Boone, 26, was discovered in a ditch along Killarney Road on Nov. 6. She was seven months pregnant.
"We're still actively working on that investigation, trying to determine exactly how she died and the circumstances surrounding her death," Cpl. Chantal Farrah told CBC News.
There were no obvious signs of trauma or injury and the preliminary autopsy did not reveal a cause of death, she said.
Investigators are now waiting for additional forensic tests to be completed, said Farrah.
"I realize that this has been a very public case. People are very curious in finding out what happened to her. I can tell you, we want to know just as much as you do," she said.
Suspicious death is a term police often use early in an investigation when it's unclear whether it was an accident, a suicide or a homicide.
Police have not said how Boone was clothed when her body was discovered behind some community mailboxes by a passerby.
A small memorial in her honour, including some flowers and a ceramic angel, now sits underneath the community mailbox, just metres away from where her body was found.
Dr. John McKay, a retired Saint John pathologist, who has performed hundreds of autopsies, says determining a cause of death may require extensive testing for DNA, drugs or other substances, which can take several weeks to complete.
Until a cause of death is determined, it is very difficult for police to move ahead, said McKay.
"There's cause of death and there's manner of death — manner meaning was it natural, or, the alternative is accidental, homicidal or suicidal. And if you don't have some pretty good evidence pathologically, then obviously your case is going to be kind of weak," he said.
RCMP are asking anyone who may have seen Boone on the night of Nov. 5 or morning of Nov. 6 to contact them or Crime Stoppers.
Boone's family has also asked for the public's help in figuring out how she died.
Boone, who grew up in the mill town of Nackawic, graduated in 2004.
She had been living in Fredericton for the past several years, but recently moved back to Nackawic to live with her parents.
She was looking forward to being a mother, her family has said.
