COCHRANE— On Friday (June 25) RCMP Major Crimes arrested and charged 60-year-old Debora Rabik with second-degree murder and indignity to human remains following an investigation into the murder of 24-year-old Sarah Rabik of Calgary.
On February 26, 2020, RCMP Major Crimes Unit responded to reports of a body along the side of Highway 8.
Police attended the scene and identified Sarah.
Cpl. Deanna Fontaine, media relations officer with Alberta RCMP, confirmed that the two women are related, but was not able to specify their relationship.
Sarah’s obituary, published on McInnis and Holloway Funeral Homes’ website, indicates that Deborah Rabik is Sarah’s mother.
RCMP Major Crimes enlisted the help of the Calgary Police Service’s Homicide Department, Missing Persons and Tech Crimes Units, who aided at different stages throughout the investigation, Fontaine said.
Fontaine said the case is unlike other homicide investigations as there was no primary incident that activated a police response.
“I know this case is unusual because we would typically, we would have a primary event or incident where police are called that would shed some light on how a person died. In this case, we have— Sarah Rabik was on the side of the highway, so there’s some mystery to how she ended up there,” she said.
Because the details of Sarah being located on the side of Highway 8 are a part of the investigation and the matter is now before the courts, Fontaine said, she could not comment on whether or not that was the scene of Sarah’s murder, or if she was transported to the location post-mortem.
“It’s a good question and it’s one our investigators ask immediately when they’re faced with a situation like that,” she said.
Following a judicial hearing, Rabik was remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in Cochrane Provincial Court on Tuesday (June 29).
