Filipina in Alberta, Canada killed while trying to stop carjacker

Reichel Alpeche, 30, interrupted the theft of her vehicle and later died from injuries she sustained in the altercation with the suspect. RCMP

A Filipina in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, was killed on Tuesday, Feb. 1, while trying to stop a carjacker from stealing her vehicle.

Reichel Alpeche, 30, interrupted the theft of her vehicle and later died from injuries she sustained in the altercation with the suspect who fled the scene in her vehicle, according to a Red Deer Royal Canadian Mounted Police press release.

Officers were dispatched to a residential block at 59th Street, between Gaetz Avenue and 54th Avenue, for a person in distress call at 6 p.m. Mounties have located Alpeche’s stolen 2018 Kia Rio with the license plate BZZ-3962.

The RCMP news release said an autopsy determined Alpeche’s death was a homicide, but did not provide a cause of death.

The organizer of a GoFundMe campaign for Alpeche wrote that she had moved to Canada from the Philippines when she was 21 to start a new life with her family. She is described as young, futuristic, bubbly and was always there for those who needed help.

The GoFundMe drive to assist with a memorial for Alpeche had raised more than $4,500 as of Friday afternoon.

Red Deer RCMP is asking anyone who may have witnessed the vehicle theft or anyone who may have video footage of the area between Kerry Wood Drive, 59th Street and Riverview Avenue, on Feb. 1 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to contact them at 403-343-5575.