Gunshots ended love story for 'inseparable' Alberta First Nations teens

She carried his words in her wallet, his love in her heart.

They dreamed of a future together, a life outside the small, isolated northernAlberta reserve where they grew up and fell in love, a life that included college and good jobs.

The people who knew them best and loved them most say Cory Grey and Dylan Laboucan were inseparable.

Yet when their bodies were found earlier this week, they were kilometres apart.

Both had been shot to death.

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His body was found Monday on a wellsite about 12 kilometres from the trailer on Whitefish Lake First Nation where the young couple lived with his parents.

Her body was found the next day at another wellsite.

Now RCMP are investigating a pair of homicides and two families are grieving for all the teenage dreams that will never come true.

'He would never harm anybody'

Louis Grey said his daughter was timid and soft-spoken.

"When she talked we had to ask her to repeat herself, because she talked in a low voice," he said.

Leo Laboucan said his son generally stayed out of conflicts.

"He would never harm anybody or anything. He was the kind of person that would help you out if you needed it," he said.

The two fathers said the young couple were close to both families. They were homebodies who didn't drink or do drugs.

"I just recently read a love letter from Dylan to Cory," Louis Grey said. "It's a two-page letter, written on both sides."

His daughter, he said, kept that letter with her always.

"They were inseparable," said Laboucan's father, Leo. "They were going to leave the reserve and go start a life with their education that they obtained. And that's cut short now."

The couple posed for a photo last year at her prom.

"It was beautiful," Laboucan said. "Dylan was really excited that Cory graduated Grade 12. That was their plan: finish school, go start a life together. And when Dylan finished Grade 12, Cory was so happy for him."

Both came from big, close families

Cory Grey was 19 and came from a family of nine children. Her brotherLex Louis Greywas beaten to death on Christmas morning in 2013.

Dylan Laboucan was 17 and came from a family of six children.

The couple bought a kitten together not long ago. They named it Dragon.

"They called it their baby," Leo Laboucan said, with a laugh.

Both had already been accepted at Northern Lakes College in Slave Lake. He planned to study power engineering, and she was going to take early-childhood education.

"They had found a really nice apartment in walking distance to the college," Laboucan's father said. "But they didn't want that on account of they wanted their cat with them. So they found this other apartment that takes cats."

They had already paid the damage deposit and bought pots and pans and plates. They were supposed to move next week.

Louis Grey said he last saw his daughter early Saturday morning, when she and her boyfriend left a campground where several family members had spent Friday night.

'Everything was normal'

They drove home to the trailer where they lived with Leo Laboucan and his wife, Becky.

"Dylan was happy to be home because he had a rough sleep in the tent, I guess," Leo Laboucan said.

He and his wife planned to goto Wabiskaw that evening, about 190 kilometres away. They left the teens at about 4:30 p.m.

"Everything was normal," Leo Laboucan said. "It was just another normal day at home. My wife took them out to the store to buy some junk food and whatever they needed for the evening."

Hours later, sometime between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., a cousin found Dylan Laboucan lying unconscious outside the family trailer.

The cousin ran down the road to call 911. When the cousin returned 15 to 20 minutes later, Dylan Laboucan was gone. There was no sign of Cory Grey.

Louis Grey said his wife, Nina, got a text message from Dylan's motherabout 10 p.m. that evening.

'That's wrong ... that's wrong'

The Greys drove home and the families and friends began to search for the teens that night.

"We called [police]right away, the first night they were missing," Leo Laboucan said. "They brought out a canine to my yard, but he was here about 20 minutes and then they went home and told us to call them when it reaches 24 hours.

"That's wrong," he said. "That's wrong. My boy and his girlfriend were already gone when they told us to wait for 24 hours before reporting it missing."

High Prairie RCMP listed the teenagers as missing on Sunday.

Community members found Dylan Laboucan on Monday. They found Cory Grey the next day.

Now their families have funerals to plan, and questions they want answered.

"Where I live, it's nice and quiet," Leo Laboucan said. "Everybody knows everybody around here. If there's a vehicle from out of town, we'll all notice it right away. It's just a quiet place to live. That's why we chose to live up here."

Both fathers expressed appreciation for all the people who helped in the search.

"I just want to express my thanks," said Louis Grey. "There were literally hundreds of helpers out there from surrounding communities, doing ground searches.

"Without the communities," he said, his voice breaking with emotion, "it would have been impossible to locate them this quick."

Leo Laboucan also thanked the people who helped.

"It's the volunteers that showed up, the communities that showed up, they never gave up," he said. "And I want to say thank you for everyone who did that.

"If it wasn't for them, they'd probably still be out there."