Former homicide investigator says the suspect may be listening to the media

METRO VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Today marks four weeks since 13-year-old Marissa Shen disappeared. Her body was later found in Burnaby’s Central Park.

While homicide investigators have said very little — aside from calling the killing “random” — an expert argues police could be close to cracking the case.

One reason for police remaining relatively quiet could be that the suspect is listening to the media.

“You can’t be saying things like, ‘We have a good suspect’ or ‘We’re doing surveillance’ or those types of things,” explains Jim Cessford, who spent 20 years as Delta’s police chief and was a homicide investigator in Edmonton.

He says police looking into the killing of Marissa Shen are probably inundated with information right now.

“They probably have many, many suspects at this point. And it’s a matter of going through the information and making a determination as to who most likely fits the profile of the killer in this particular case.”

Shen was last seen leaving her home not far from Central Park at 6 p.m. on July 18th. Her body was found about seven hours later.