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Deaths of two First Nation teens could be 'foul play,' RCMP say

Deaths of two First Nation teens could be 'foul play,' RCMP say

Autopsies will be conducted Wednesday on two teenagers from the Whitefish Lake First Nation whose bodies were discovered earlier this week within hours and a few kilometres of each other.

RCMP have given out little information about the case.

"It is too early to determine if (the deaths) are as a result of foul play or are directly linked, but investigators are considering these possibilities given the circumstances," High Prairie RCMP said in a news release.

The RCMP major crimes unit has been working on the investigation since Monday.

Police and family members have confirmed that Dylan Laboucan and Cory Grey were both found dead within a few kilometres of where they lived.

The two were boyfriend and girlfriend. He was 17, she was 19.

The young couple went missing over the weekend from the remote community north of Slave Lake, Alta.

Laboucan's body was found Monday evening.

Louis Grey confirmed to CBC late Tuesday that his daughter's body was found less than 24 hours later.

"Tonight, they found my girl finally, deceased, not even two kilometres from my place," Grey said.

High Prairie RCMP say they originally responded to a complaint on Saturday about an unconscious person outside a residence on the First Nation. When they arrived, they found no one at the scene.

Grey told CBC News that Laboucan was found unconscious on Saturday between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., outside the trailer where he lived with his girlfriend and her mother. Grey lives about two kilometres away.

"The guy who found them, I guess he sort of panicked," Grey said. "He really didn't try to revive him. He didn't want to go inside the trailer, because he thought someone might be inside.

'Dylan's body was gone'

"So, he took off and went to go phone from a neighbour's place. So, this took him about 15 to 20 minutes. When he returned back to the scene, Dylan's body was gone. But he'd never seen my girl."

Police listed Laboucan as missing on Saturday. They listed his girlfriend as missing the following day.

Grey said that during the initial search for the young couple, police brought in dogs and were assisted by people from surrounding communities.

On Monday, High Prairie RCMP said they had found a body, and on Tuesday confirmed it was Laboucan.

His body was found about six to eight kilometres from the trailer where the young couple lived.

"Then they tried to stop us from searching anymore," Grey said, "because we could have contaminated the crime scene."

He said police found his daughter's body at around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

RCMP said Cory Grey's body was found in a different location from where Laboucan had been discovered.

'They were innocent, innocent'

"She was the youngest of my kids," Grey said. "I had nine kids. Just three years ago, I lost my youngest son right on Christmas Day. So it's kind of hard for the family again, to happen to our two youngest kids."

Grey said his daughter and her boyfriend had been together for about a year. Laboucan had recently graduated from high school, he said, and his daughter graduated the year before.

Both had been accepted to go to vocational school in Slave Lake, Grey said.

"Everything was set up, even apartments and all that. And then this happened. They were a nice young couple. They had their little minor arguments, but just minor. They were innocent, innocent."

Whitefish Lake First Nation is north of Lesser Slave Lake.