The beautiful, blonde, 14-year-old daughter of an Edson pastor was killed Saturday. A man allegedly attacked her on a wooded walking path and she died of her injuries.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Edson schools were locked down following reports that a woman in her 20s has been attacked by a man in the same part of town Tuesday. She escaped, uninjured. 

That day, two high school volleyball teams from Edson arrived in Jasper. The kids hesitated to get off the bus at the Jr./Sr. High School after watching an RCMP officer entering the building. He was there to look in on the game, but they thought he was there to deliver bad news.

The students reminded me of the time a teenage girl was abducted in my hometown. I was only six years old at the time, so I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I understood how serious my mother was when she told me not to go anywhere on my own. I especially understood when I heard the message repeated by my teacher, by my friends, and on the news.

The girl was Kristen French, and she had been kidnapped by serial killer Paul Bernardo.

It chills me to think of the fear, confusion and desperation the people of this town will feel until a perpetrator is caught.

Parents won’t allow their kids out of their sight. Young women will be nervous to go out on their own. It’s especially troubling that both these attacks happened in broad daylight. 

It’s the right time for Edson students to be wary, but it’s also unfortunate that this has occurred, putting them in that state of mind.

The town may be two hours down the road, but word travels quickly, and we share the distress. Our thoughts are with the family of the young girl, as well as anyone who has experienced such a dreadful occurrence. 

This girl will not be forgotten, and her smiling image will serve as a reminder for years to come of the senseless way her life was cut short.