Karina Wolfe death: 'We thought we'd find her alive,' friend says

Friends and family of Karina Wolfe are grieving after learning the remains of the woman, missing since 2010, have been found.

Wolfe was 20 years old when she vanished from Saskatoon's west side. She was last seen July 2, 2010.

"I heard on the news that they found a woman's remains and we were all hoping it wasn't her and it turned out to be her," Jennifer Mcleod told CBC News Sunday, two days after police confirmed they had found Wolfe and laid charges against her alleged killer. "I cried, I cried so much. I was hoping it wasn't her."

Mcleod and Wolfe had been close friends for about 10 years, having met in Prince Albert.

"We were with each other every day, went to school together," Mcleod recalled.

Police, acting on a tip, said they found Wolfe's remains Nov. 14 in a marshy area outside of Saskatoon.

"I feel very sad that that's the way we found her," Mcleod said. "We thought we would find her alive and not gone. But it's somehow good that we found her, so we can get closure finally."

Mcleod said Wolfe's family was making arrangements for a funeral Thursday at the Muskeg Lake First Nation.

She added that some were still coming to grips with the new information.

"It's still unreal to them right now. They still can't believe that it happened," she said, adding that Wolfe's mother Carol was always hoping for her daughter's return.

"She believed every day that Karina was alive and she always thought that Karina would come walking back in the door," she said. "She had so much hope that her daughter was still alive all this time. She didn't ever think that her daughter was dead."

Police in Saskatoon were set to provide more information about the case on Monday.

The 33-year-old man charged with the second-degree murder of Wolfe is set to appear in provincial court Monday.