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Sister charged with first-degree murder after victim's body found burned in Coquitlam park

Pen Jung Tracy Chen has been in custody ever since police found her at the scene of the incident on March 10

The body of a woman found dead in Minnekhada Regional Park last month has been identified and her sister has been charged with first degree murder.

Pen Jung Tracy Chen has been in custody ever since she was arrested at the scene of the incident and charged with indignity to a dead body on March 10. On Friday, police announced she would also be facing a murder charge following the completion of an autopsy that identified the victim as Pen Yun Ivy Chen, Tracy Chen’s sister. 

“In spite of the current challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our investigators pushed forward and got the job the done,” said IHIT Sgt. Frank Jang. “IHIT operations continue without disruption and the resolve of our investigation remains strong as demonstrated by the positive outcome in this case.”

An RCMP officer on scene of a suspicious fire and death in Coquitlam's Minnekhada Regional Park last month.

Police arrived at the park at 6:15 a.m. March 10, after Coquitlam Fire and Rescue were summoned to the 4000-block of Quarry Road for reports of a fire in the area. When Mounties arrived, they found evidence of a suspicious death and arrested Tracy Chen at the scene. 

Police cordoned off the surrounding area for a significant amount of time as IHIT worked with Coquitlam RCMP to investigate, according to Cpl. Michael McLaughlin.

“After an initial investigation, we made an arrest, secured all the evidence and called IHIT,” he said at the time. 

However, identifying Ivy Chen's body took several weeks, with police at one point asking the public for information. In a media release issued on March 16, IHIT said Ivy Chen was last seen March 6 at the Canadian Tire at 2830 Bentall St. in Vancouver.

Tracy Chen’s next court appearance will take place on April 6. Investigators said on Friday that they would not be releasing any more information now that the case was before the courts.