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Calgary teen killed at home
Boyfriend, 26, taken to hospital
Relatives checking on an 18-year-old girl house-sitting for her vacationing parents found her dead inside the northwest home. Her boyfriend, who was found injured in the home, is now the focus of a homicide investigation.
Someone called police to the Citadel home at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after a friend of Stephanie Novak rang the doorbell and couldn't get a response.
The friend fetched Novak's grandparents, who live nearby and have a key to the home on Citadel Drive N.W. At about the same time, the boyfriend's brother also arrived at the home.
"They went to check on her, so they let themselves into the house," said Acting Staff Sgt. Chris Matthews of the homicide unit.
They discovered the body of Novak, a recent high school graduate, and a 26-year-old man suffering from unspecified injuries.
Paramedics took the injured man -- identified by friends as Novak's boyfriend -- to Foothills Hospital.
Investigators were waiting to speak to the man Thursday afternoon and said they were trying to verify his relationship with Novak.
"We believe we will be speaking with him soon," Matthews said. "We have an idea what the relationship is."
Investigators also weren't able to say Thursday whether the man's injuries were self-inflicted.
"We aren't sure why he had some injuries," said Matthews.
Until detectives have a chance to interview him, his role in Wednesday's events remains unclear.
"He was in the house. We need to find out what happened in the house," said Matthews.
Tearful friends gathered outside the Novak home to console each other Thursday afternoon.
Several teens hovered around the yellow police tape and the forensic crime scenes truck parked outside, hoping officers would offer them an explanation.
"She is such a sweetheart," said a tearful Megan Kerway, who attended William Aberhart High School with Novak. The two graduated last year.
"Nobody knows what's going on," added another friend, turning to hug Kerway.
Friends of Novak's brother, 13-year-old Alex, also flocked to the home during their lunch break from St. Brigid Elementary Junior High School after hearing about the death.
"Alex and his parents are supposed to be on vacation. They were supposed to come home last night," said Alex's friend, John Mitchell.
"His sister stayed home."
Novak worked part-time at the University of Calgary and had previously worked at Petland in Crowfoot, said family friend Eileen, who didn't give her last name.
Eileen's daughter is Novak's best friend and was out of town when the family heard the news of her death.
Eileen watched as police removed a girl from the Citadel Drive home Wednesday night.
At first, she believed that Novak was still alive.
"I saw police cars and an ambulance. I saw a girl that was wheeled out from the house -- a blond girl," Eileen said.
"She's one of the most unique teenagers I have ever known."
Neighbour Diana Mathieson saw distraught family members walking between the Novak home and the grandparents' home on Citadel Crest Park around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
"They were really upset," she said.
"This is . . . it's very close," she added, as her eyes welled up with tears.
"I'm shocked."
A former pet store co-worker remembered Novak as hard-working and kind-hearted.
"She was a really, really nice person. Happy and perky," said Paul Simmons, who worked with her until she left the job in September.
"She used to come in early to scrub the kennels. She liked the rescue dogs, the ones taken off the street."
The medical examiner performed an autopsy Thursday afternoon on Novak, but investigators are withholding the cause of death.
"That is something we need to be able to have for the investigation," Matthews said.
The autopsy failed to pinpoint when she was killed, he noted.
A silver Mazda 3 that police towed from the Novak home belongs to the man taken to hospital, said Matthews.
Novak's parents and her little brother are on their way back from their holiday but have been informed of the killing.
Relatives gathered at the grandparents' house Thursday.
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