‘Perplexing’: Cause of death of woman found badly hurt on Calgary pathway still unknown

Police are still looking for answers as they continue to investigate the death of a woman who was found badly injured on a northeast Calgary pathway earlier this week — calling the case “perplexing.”

Calgary police say just before 4 a.m. Monday, a passerby found a woman in medical distress on the Nose Creek Pathway near 32 Avenue NE and Deerfoot Trail.

The victim was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition where she later died. She has since been identified as 23-year-old Calgary resident Jelisa Maschki.

Police say an autopsy was completed Thursday morning and homicide investigators are still not sure whether she was the victim of “an assault or a tragic accident.”

In an update later in the day, Staff Sgt. Sean Gregson with the CPS Homicide Unit says the original scene suggested Maschki was attacked, but her hospital visit and autopsy revealed an injury to only one part of the body.

“There was nothing that stuck out to say one way or another that it was a significant assault that occurred,” Gregson says. “We’re trying to find some answers and this one is a little bit perplexing.”

Investigators believe her injuries happened shortly before she was found at 4 a.m.

One person was taken into custody for questioning shortly after the incident, but they have since been released.

Detectives are still trying to figure out why she was in the pathway area in the early morning hours. Adding to the complexity of the investigation, there are few cameras in the area where she was found, says Gregson.

Police know she left her home alone around 7 p.m. on Sunday night and a surveillance photo of Maschki leaving her residence has been released.

“Did she leave with someone else later in the night? Did she meet up with anybody?” asked Gregson during Thursday’s update.

“If we can determine anybody that she may have been with Sunday night leading into Monday, those are the people we’d like to talk with.”

Anyone who believes they saw any suspicious activity along the Nose Creek Pathway in the early morning hours of Monday, or who was in recent contact with the victim is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234 or tip anonymously through CrimeStoppers.