S.F. slaying victim was Canadian tourist "on her first trip"

SAN FRANCISCO -- A young Canadian woman whose body was found in Golden Gate Park over the weekend was on her first solo backpacking trip that would have taken her all the way to Europe, her relatives said.

Audrey Carey, 23, of Quebec had told her family she was embarking on an adventure and decided she would go to for the first time to the United States and then make her way to Europe, her great uncle, Rejean Carey, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday.

"She wanted to travel. It was her first trip," the great uncle said in French, when reached by telephone.

He didn't know when Carey left Canada, but he said she planned to make the western United States the first leg of her journey.

A passer-by discovered her body Saturday morning, following the first day of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, and called police, said Officer Albie Esparza, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.

Officers responded, and paramedics declared her dead at the scene, Esparza said. There was evidence of trauma to her body, he said.

Police have not said whether Carey attended the festival on Friday nor released any information on how she came to be in the park, CBS San Francisco reported.

Her body was found several hours before the first act of the concert went on stage Saturday.