Friends, family honour young Surrey murder victim at Kidney Walk
Posted September 24, 2017 8:27 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) – You may see people tying up their sneakers and taking a stroll for a good cause around the Lower Mainland today, but one team in particular is participating in a local Kidney Walk for a very special reason.
Along with raising money for the Kidney Foundation of Canada, a group of about 30 people is honouring the memory of 19-year-old murder victim Kiran Dhesi.
Her body was discovered in a burned out SUV in a rural area of Surrey in early August — her death has been treated as a homicide with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team taking charge. The 19-year-old was found in the vehicle around 24th Avenue between 184th and 188th Streets.
IHIT says she was last seen leaving the family home at about 9 p.m. on August 1st. Her killing is not believed to have been random. “IHIT is working closely with the Surrey RCMP to determine motive, and Miss Dhesi’s whereabouts prior to her murder. Miss Dhesi was not known to police, and the investigation to date indicates that her death was not related to gang activity,” said Corporal Meghan Foster at the time of the killing.
Dhesi was a college student and was recovering following a recent kidney transplant.
Her friends and family, and even some strangers who want to show their support, call themselves “Kiran’s Angels.”
Her best friend Sonja Mann says they want to help people fighting similar battles, and to continue their friend’s legacy. “Through all of her health issues, and when everyone else would feel the battle that Kiran had to fight, she was the one to uplift them, uplift everyone’s spirits and just simply brighten the room when she walked in.”
Mann adds they are also looking to raise awareness about kidney disease. “She was peoples’ backbone. If anyone needed support or was in any kind of issue, Kiran would be the one to be there as soon as you would call her.”
Walks for the foundation are happening across the province and in Yukon.
Anyone with information about Dhesi’s killing is asked to call the IHIT tipline at 1.877.551.IHIT (4448) or Crime Stoppers at 1.800.222.TIPS (8477).
