The victim of a deadly home invasion is being remembered as the mother of two young girls who went above and beyond for the people she cared about and was on her way to settling down and getting her feet beneath her after being a bit of a "free spirit."
Isabelle Thomas, 22, was found dead in her home in the Alpine Village townhouse complex when police were called to the scene on July 18. Police say a suspect has been arrested and remains in custody on other charges while an investigation continues.
"She always had the brightest smile and looked you in your eyes as she was talking with you," her mother Leslie Thomas said. "She had the bubbliest personality and was super outgoing. If she just met you, you felt like she knew you a lifetime."
Isabelle Thomas had been living in the townhouse for about four years with her two young daughters, who are now in the care of immediate family members.
The oldest of the two girls is "still in shock," Leslie Thomas said, and the family is seeking counselling for trauma. A Go Fund Me campaign has been launched to help with any additional costs the family may face in the fallout from the tragedy.
She said her daughter was a "free spirit" for a time but upon the death of her oldest daughter's father in December 2021, she had started to buckle down and had been working as a dietary assistant at Simon Fraser Lodge.
"She wanted to get her life in order. She had plans to buy the house she was living in...she was saving up money for that. She had her future planned out."
Isabelle Thomas was eclectic in her interests and, as a member of the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation, worked to maintain a connection to her culture.
"She was making ribbon skirts, she was making drums," Leslie Thomas said. "Any outing, she was always there if somebody invited her. She never said no to anything...and she was always helping out."
In addition to a roommate to help with the rent, Thomas also had a steady boyfriend in Justus Kelly.
"She was a really outstanding person once you got to know her and were on her good side," he said, his voice shaking with emotion. "She was really loving and caring and was always there for her girls and she was always just trying to make people happy that were around her."
In addition to her mother and boyfriend, Isabelle Thomas is survived by daughters Eleanor and Addelynn, nephews Carter and Chase, sister Aleynna Pedersen, brothers Dakota Thomas, Dan Pedersen, Jeff Pedersen, Wesley Pedersen and father Kent Pedersen.
