Murder charge laid in death of 11-year-old boy reported missing in Burnaby, B.C.

BURNABY — Two family members have been charged in the death of an 11-year-old boy who was reported missing in Burnaby, B.C., more than a year ago.

Police received a report in September 2025 to check on the well-being of Kai Pavlovic, who was last known to be living with his family in Burnaby.

When officers couldn’t find the boy after several days, the probe was escalated and the case was taken over by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team in June, the same month the boy’s remains were found.

Investigators say 51-year-old Branko Bijelic faces charges of second-degree murder and indignity to human remains, while 46-year-old Sarah Bijelic is charged with manslaughter.

The homicide team’s Sgt. Freda Fong says the two are related to the boy, but she wouldn’t say how they are connected, only that police wanted the public to know “that this was not a stranger incident” and the death was not random.

Fong says family members in New Zealand contacted police last year because they hadn’t heard from the boy and that was out of character.

She said on Monday that it was an emotional and difficult investigation to work on and other details about the case will be made public during the trial process.

“Today, what’s importance is that we’re announcing a lot of our findings for the public to have closure, because a lot people were out there and worried about Kai,” she said.

She said the laying of charges is a significant milestone following more than a year of investigation, but the work continues as the case moves through the prosecution process.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2026.

The Canadian Press