For the second time in a week, investigators were called to Burnaby for a homicide.
On Sunday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team was called in after a body was discovered in a ravine near a homeless camp on the west side of North Road, south of Highway 1.
The body was identified as 56-year-old Kevin William Knuff.
It’s unclear if Knuff was homeless and living in the camp. Police said they haven’t identified a motive or a suspect.
“The homeless camp itself was not large, with less than 10 residents occupying the camp, however, the camp was empty at the time Mr. Knuff was found,” said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound in a statement. “Police are concentrating our efforts towards identifying and speaking to the other camp residents.”
Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact the IHIT tip-line at 1-877-551-4448.
Meanwhile, Wanda Mulholland, co-ordinator of the Society To End Homelessness in Burnaby, said the organization will be watching the case closely, adding fall and winter is the hardest time for people to be homeless.
She said without the security of housing, people are at a greater risk of exposure to crime, drugs and unsafe situations.
Mulholland said safety concerns for the homeless are very real, recalling one case where a person was assaulted and targeted by someone because they were homeless.
There were 58 people identified during the last homeless count in Burnaby back in march 2014, but the society believes that number was about 200 short of the real figure. Of those counted, 61 per cent were homeless for longer than five years.
The next one-day count is set for March 2017.
There are a number of homeless camps throughout Burnaby, according to Mulholland, who pointed out this week is national homelessness action week.
“There are an increasing number of Burnaby citizens trying to find a place to live,” she said, adding homelessness has become a long standing issue created through a lack of safe and affordable housing. “The more that people really understand the issue facing people who are homeless, the more we can move towards finding solutions.”
According to court records, Knuff had a lengthy criminal record, mostly for theft-related offences around Metro Vancouver, including Burnaby.
Last week, IHIT was called in to investigate the murder of a woman found in a Burnaby business on North Road.
