Family of Gregory Cope organizes fundraiser, plans vigil

By Angela Brown

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

Police said the 32-year-old was found dead inside a home on 27th Street West in Battleford that was destroyed by fire Feb. 18. Investigators found human remains inside the home on Feb. 27, and with help from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, the victim was identified as 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,” Gregory’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 $5,000.

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

Gregory grew up in the Battlefords, where he attended North Battleford Comprehensive High School and Battleford Central Elementary School. Will described Gregory as a homebody-type person, who also enjoyed cooking and baking.

“He was mostly into video games,” Will 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 plans to hold 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 held somewhere near the river, since Gregory used to fish and spent a lot of time at the river when he was growing up.

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

He said 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.