Friends and neighbours expressed disbelief Tuesday as they gathered outside a Surrey home where the bodies of three people were found the day before.
Police believe the three are part of the same family but released no names and few details about the deaths as homicide officers continued to investigate.
Neighbours and friends identified the occupants of the Fraser Heights home as Leo Li, his wife, Tiffany, and their adult son, Daniel.
“I am shocked because they loved each other and they loved the life they lived,” said Jean Zou, who lived across the street from the house and has known the family since 2002.
“Leo liked to play the golf, and skating and Tiffany loved the yoga,” said Zou. “They were active. They did exercises in the morning and then tutored in the afternoon.”
The couple tutored students at their two-storey home. Tiffany taught French, Leo taught math and physics and Daniel, who graduated last year from the University of Victoria, taught English, according to Zou.
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The family home was surrounded by yellow police tape on Tuesday. RCMP, coroner and forensics vehicles surrounded the house as police in protective clothing came and went. The bodies were removed by stretchers into waiting vans later in the day.
In the afternoon, mourners added to the growing makeshift memorial by adding bouquets of flowers with notes that said “rest in peace” and “peace in heaven.”
Police discovered the bodies of three adults at the home in the 15600 block of 112th Avenue around noon on Monday, Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in a release on Tuesday.
“(They) are believed to be part of the same family,” he said.
“Preliminary evidence suggests there is no outstanding suspect, though we are not ruling out any investigative theory. Investigators will continue to be in the area speaking to neighbours throughout the day.”
Janey Li, whose son was tutored in French by Tiffany, told Postmedia she had sent a message to Tiffany around midday on Saturday and found it unusual that Tiffany hadn’t responded. She tried again on Sunday and again on Monday morning with no reply, she said.
Pierotti was asked by the CBC if this was a murder-suicide.
“It appears so,” Pierotti said. “We can say that we believe there’s no outstanding suspects, anything like that, or any outstanding murder weapons.”
The house is owned by Li Li and Xiao Yan Zhen, according to B.C. property documents and was purchased for $537,000 in 2009. It was assessed at $1.6 million based on last July’s assessment.
Leo and Tiffany Li, who were in their 50s, were part of a chat group on WeChat, said Connie Kang, who said Tiffany had posted as recently as Dec. 20, photos of her snowy backyard.
Leo had posted during December’s World Cup soccer tournament how much he had enjoyed the games. Both of them had wished their friends and followers a Merry Christmas, said both Zou and Kang.
“They are a very nice family, they’re so kind,” said friend Lucy Jiang, who said Tiffany’s family came from the same small city near Shanghai as she did and Tiffany’s parents still live there. “It is so sad.”
Jiang said Tiffany loved to garden, and Zou noted that Tiffany had planted flowers, including sunflowers, to attract birds to their backyard.
Jiang said Daniel, who would be about 23 or 24, was a “good kid” who planned to pursue a master’s degree in English.
Neighbours Piara Singh Beesla and Surjit Kaur Beesla said they didn’t know the family but were shocked to learn of the deaths of their neighbours.
“This is one of the good areas of Surrey,” said Piara. “How can you feel safe?”
“It’s really sad,” said Surjit.
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