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Homicide squad reveals two found dead in Burnaby were Coquitlam residents

Umair Kasim, 30, and Kiesha Garie, 24, were recently reported missing to Coquitlam RCMP

By Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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Crime

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October 19, 2022

IHIT-coquitlam-burnaby — Burnaby RCMP received a report of two dead bodies in a vehicle on Monday. Images courtesy of IHIT.

Two people found dead in a vehicle next to a Burnaby high school on Monday have been identified as Coquitlam residents.

Umair Kasim, 30, and Kiesha Garie, 24, were recently reported missing, according to the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

“Both Garie and Kasim had been recently reported missing to the Coquitlam RCMP,” IHIT stated in the press release Wednesday morning. “IHIT is working with the Coquitlam RCMP and the Burnaby RCMP to build a timeline of events connecting when Garie and Kasim were last seen to when they were located.”

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Burnaby RCMP received a report at 1:45 p.m. on Monday of two dead bodies in an SUV near the intersection of Alpha Avenue and Venables Street, adjacent to Alpha Secondary School.

The investigation was transferred over to IHIT shortly afterwards.

IHIT are releasing the names to the public to help investigators piece together what happened. They are asking anyone who saw them over the previous week, or has potential dashcam footage of the area they were discovered in, to contact investigators.

Police have not said how the victims knew each other or when they were reported missing.

The approximate location of where the bodies were discovered. Source: Google Maps.

Author

Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Having spent the first 20 years of his life in Port Moody, Patrick Penner has finally returned as a hometown reporter.

His youth was spent wiping out on snowboards, getting hit in the face with hockey pucks, and frolicking on boats in the Port Moody Arm.

After graduating Heritage Woods Secondary School, Penner wandered around aimlessly for a year before being given an ultimatum by loving, but concerned, parents: “rent or college.”

With that, he was off to the University of Victoria to wander slightly less aimlessly from book, to classroom, to beer, and back.

Penner achieved his undergraduate degree in 2017, majoring in political science and minoring in history.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, translating this newfound education into career opportunities proved somewhat challenging.

After working for a short time as a lowly grunt in various labour jobs, Penner’s fruitless drifting came to an end.

He decided it was time to hit the books again. This time, with focus.

Nine months later, Penner had received a certificate of journalism from Langara College and was awarded the Jeani Read-Michael Mercer Fellowship upon graduation.

When that scholarship led to a front page story in the Vancouver Sun, he knew he had found his calling.

Penner moved to Abbotsford to spend the next three years learning from grizzled reporters and editors at Black Press Media.

Assigned to the Mission Record as the city’s sole reporter, he developed a taste for investigative and civic reporting, eventually being nominated for the 2023 John Collison Investigative Journalism Award.

Unfortunately, dwindling resources and cutbacks in the community media sphere convinced Penner to seek out alternative ways to deliver the news.

When a position opened up at the Tri-Cities Dispatch, he knew it was time to jump ship and sail back home to beautiful Port Moody.