Gregory Cope. (RCMP/Submitted)

By Angela Brown

RCMP investigation

Family of Gregory Cope organize GoFundMe page, vigil planned

Mar 7, 2023 | 3:34 PM

The family of Battlefords resident Gregory Cope who was found deceased after being reported missing have set up an online GoFundMe page to raise funds to help Cope’s two sons.

Police reported March 3 the 32-year-old was found deceased inside a home on 27^th Street West in Battleford that was destroyed by fire Feb. 18. Investigators found human remains inside the home Feb. 27. With help from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, the victim was identified as Gregory Cope.

Initial investigation determined Cope died as a result of a homicide and Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes is investigating.

“My brother Gregory’s life was tragically cut short and ended up being taken away from his sons and loved ones,” Cope’s brother Will Cope said on the GoFundMe page.

Funds raised will be used to create trust funds for Gregory’s two sons. So far, $1,470 has been raised, with a goal to reach for $5,000.

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Will Cope says the family have been in shock after learning of Gregory’s tragic death.

Gregory grew up in the Battlefords and attended North Battleford Comprehensive High School and Battleford Central Elementary School.

Will describes Gregory as a homebody type person, who also enjoyed cooking and baking among his hobbies.

“He was mostly into video games,” he added. “He was a stay-at-home type guy. He mastered my mom’s recipe for homemade buns. He was really good at cooking too.”

Will said Gregory was also a very friendly young man, who cared about people.

“A lot of his friends describe him as shy, but once you got to know him he was really outgoing,” Will said. “He was really personable too. He would go out of his way to help anyone.”

The family plan to have an outdoor vigil in memory of Gregory when the weather gets warmer.

“It will be updated on our Facebook Memorial Group [Page],” Will said. “We have family that lives in Ontario, Newfoundland and Victoria, B.C. So, we are going to need some time to get everyone together.”

He said the vigil will likely be somewhere near the river, since Gregory used to fish and spent a lot of time at the river when he was growing up here.

“For the candlelight vigil, we really want to help shed light on how many missing people there are in Canada,” Will added.

He would like to see more focus on helping find answers when someone is reported missing, and reaching out to families.

“It’s a scary world when people turn a blind eye to this sort of stuff,” Will said.

He said he hopes anyone who knows what happened to Gregory speaks up.

“I only hope that justice is served,” Will said.

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW