Elmer Libertino homicide: police appeal to geotaggers for clues
33-year-old Libertino was found lying in a pool of blood in the middle of a Burnaby street
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team hopes a group of people playing a geotagging game in Burnaby will provide the clues needed to solve the homicide of 33-year-old Elmer Libertino.
Police have also released a series of photographs they hope will help jog someone's memory.
A police officer on routine patrol found Libertino lying in a pool of blood in the middle of Moscrop Street at Smith Avenue just before 3 a.m. PT on Thursday, April 16.
Homicide investigators quickly took over the case.
Geotaggers as witnesses?
"We believe that on the night of [Libertino's death] people engaging in an online geotagging game called Ingress were seeking a cache at the corner of Smith and Moscrop," said Sgt. Stephanie Ashton, a media relations officer for IHIT in a release.
"We seek the help of anyone in the Ingress gaming community who may have been in the area."
Geotagging involves the use of global positioning satellite [GPS] coordinates to navigate to real-world locations in order to discover points determined by whoever is running the game.
Police say Libertino travelled from Surrey in the early hours of the morning by public transit to the area of Kingsway and Boundary in Burnaby between 2:00 a.m. PT and 3:00 a.m. PT.
"There may have been quite a few people on foot in the area of Moscrop and Smith around this time," said Ashton in a statement. "We are asking those people to come forward to tell us if they saw anything including Mr. Libertino in the area."
Police say that Libertino has no criminal record and has had no contact with police.
"He has left behind a grieving family who want answers about what happened to their loved one," said Ashton.
IHIT is asking anyone who may have information to call the IHIT tipline by calling 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or email at ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca