First Nations families of 2 slain teens say police didn't take them seriously

Teens Dylan Laboucan and Cory Greyfrom Alberta's Whitefish Lake First Nation, a young couple in love, were shot to death by someone they were "connected to," RCMP say. But the familiessaythe police were slow in responding to the case.

It was almost dusk in Whitefish Riverwhen Cody Laboucan drove his truck into his uncle's driveway.

He didn't know it, buthe'd just stumbled upon a crime scene.

"As I was pulling in, I could see somebody lying there," he said. "So I immediately jumped out of my truck. As I went around, I realized it was my cousin, Dylan.

He said his cousinwas unconscious and had discolouration on his faceand lips.

"So I kind of knew something was wrong," he said. "I started to shake his feet and I yelled his name. I did that for maybe about three four minutes, and he didn't wake up."

• Gunshots ended love story for 'inseparable' Alberta First Nations teens
• Teen couple from Alberta's Whitefish First Nation were shot to death, police say

With night approaching on Whitefish Lake First Nation andhis young children, girlfriend and grandmother in the truck, Laboucan didn't feel comfortable leaving them.

He had no cellphone, so he drove to the next house, three or four minutes away, to call 911.

He reached the nearest RCMP detachment in High Prairie, about 90 kilometres away.

"I told them, I found my cousin unconscious," Laboucan said. "I told them I kind of thought he wasn't alive. I told them the location and gave them the directions."

'I eventually just hung up on them'

The officer on the phone asked a series of questions.

"I eventually just hung up on them," Laboucan said. "I said, 'I've got to go.'"

Twenty minutes later he was back at his uncle's place. He parked down the driveway farther from the trailer.

"When I came back and I took a couple steps out of my truck, I was walking toward where my cousin's body was. And he was gone."

Laboucan said it took RCMP about 45 minutes to get there. A police dog team arrived soon afterward. By then, family and members of the community were already searching for Dylan Laboucan and his devoted girlfriend, Cory Grey.

"They brought out a canine to my yard, but he was here about 20 minutes and then they went home and told us to call them when it reaches 24 hours," said Dylan's father, Leo Laboucan.

"That's wrong. My boy and his girlfriend were already gone when they told us to wait for 24 hours before reporting it missing."

Dylan's mother, Becky Thunder, said RCMPofficers checked out their trailer that first night."They came into the house," she said. "They said they didn't seeany suspicious activity or like, you know, when there's a scuffle or something."

Thundersaid she knew something was wrong the moment she saw her son'siPod was still at the home.

"He never leaves without his iPod," she said."He neverleaves me without calling. If he's going to go to a friend's house, he's going to call me, he's going to sleepover somewhere, he would call me. That's the kind of son I had. He wouldn't just leave without telling me."

Growing alarm

Louis Grey, the father of Dylan Laboucan's girlfriend, Cory,said his wife got a text message about 10 p.m. that Saturday from Thunder, who said her son had been found unconscious outside the family trailer. The Greys didn't see the message for another hour. Soon after they did they were on their way home, already alarmed.

"We sped over here and started searching for him that night," said Louis Grey. "All night and the following day, too. We didn't get any sleep."

The first RCMP officers on the scene stayed until about 3 a.m. Sunday, Cody Laboucan said.

But Louis Grey said he thinks High Prairie RCMP did not take the families' concerns seriously.

"It's like, I don't know, like they didn't care," Grey said.

Cody Laboucan said he called RCMP again on Sunday and was told the detachment had only two police cars to cover the area between Grouard to Whitefish River, a distance of about 60 kilometres along secondary Highway 750, northwest of Lesser Slave Lake.

He said police returned to the reserve briefly on Sunday evening.

High Prairie RCMP sent out a news release at 10:53 p.m. Sunday. It read:"On July 23rd 2016, at around 2050 hrs, the High Prairie RCMP responded to a complaint of an unconscious male outside his residence in Whitefish River First Nation. As members attended, the male in question, Dylan Laboucan, 17 years old, disappeared.

"Members of the High Prairie RCMP and the community of Whitefish River have been actively looking for Dylan Laboucan and his girlfriend Cory Grey."

But both families say the RCMP didn't join the search until late Monday afternoon, after a community member found Dylan's body on a wellsite about 12 kilometres from the trailer.

Another community member found Cory Grey the next day, her body dumped at a different wellsite a few kilometres away.

Both teens had been shot to death.

'What kind of monster'

High Prairie RCMP are directing media calls about the case to K-Division in Edmonton.

Cpl. Hal Turnbull said he couldn't speak about the specifics of the case since the investigation is continuing.

"That somebody out there is responsible for the deaths of Dylan and Cory is the focus right now," Turnbull said. "Our biggest responsibility is to find the person responsible."

He said if people have concerns about police service, they should let the detachment know.

He said the details of the initial police response will eventually come out in court.

Turnbull commended the community for the massive search effort to find the two teens.

"I think the community reacted in a great way," he said.

For her part,Thunder said she's appreciative of the efforts police are making to solve the two homicides.

But she's still afraid.

"I'm really praying that the person who did this to my children is exposed and gets put away," shesaid."I have fear because the person who did this is still out there and I'm worried about Whitefish River, also about Whitefish Lake First Nation.

"We don't know what kind of monster this person is.We don't know who his next victim is, who his next target is."