Loren Donn Leslie died one year ago. The anniversary of her murder is Nov. 27, only 39 days shy of her 16th birthday.
While court allegations are underway against a suspect in her case, Loren's loved ones are involved in their own proceedings to remember her and apply her life to make positive change in society.
The Loren Donn Leslie Foundation is organizing a pair of events this weekend to mark the sad occasion.
The foundation will be hosting a coffeehouse on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the St. Joseph's Auditorium in Vanderhoof, then on Sunday there will be a candlelight vigil at the same time and place.
One of the organizers of the foundation is Loren's father Doug Leslie who feels positively about the community response to the events, while at the same time he stares down the barrel of the worst anniversary a father can have. He said he will be at the weekend events with no expectations of holding his emotions together.
"No, I'll just let 'er go. I wing everything," he said. "The people coming know there is going to be emotion involved, and everyone is there for support. I've got my daughter Megan, she's 14, reading Loren's signature poem at the coffeehouse, and she'll read a remembrance prayer at the candlelight vigil.
"She is doing very well. Her sister and her got so close near the end, it makes it so tough having Loren gone. Loren was her mentor and actually a lot of people's mentor. And the weirdest thing I've seen in my life is watching that carry on."
One of the chief goals of the foundation is fostering peer mentoring programs in schools - something Leslie believes his daughter would appreciate.
"Kids talk to kids," said Leslie.
"If there's a group of young people trained to spot things, or hear people out, let troubled kids know they are not alone and their problems are not all on them, others do understand, it can help them through a tough time or even change their attitudes on life in general. We think more young people should be trained for that."
The foundation is also facilitating the building of wooden "thought benches" for schools, where students can sit and have a moment of reflection. Each one will have a plaque commemorating Loren.
The wood shop at Nechako Valley Secondary School had one built for their school and another for McLeod elementary where Loren attended as a child. Later she went to Fraser Lake elementary-secondary school and that shop class is also building a bench for
their campus.
In spite of all these developments, Leslie said Loren's last day with him still feels like yesterday and "this has been my worst month so far" with the fateful anniversary closing in. He is gratified that a suspect is in custody and the case is proceeding towards trial, but he doesn't want to attend any of these preliminary hearings and is "trying to have zero feelings" for the suspect.
The accused, Cody Alan Legebokoff, is charged with the murder of four area women over a 13-month period in 2009 and 2010. Loren Leslie was the last. He was arrested as he drove off a remote logging road onto Highway 27, between Vanderhoof and Fort St. James, not far from where police located Loren's body in the woods shortly after they pulled him over the night of Nov. 27, 2010.
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