Charges in death of ‘smiling, bright’ 11-year-old boy leave his B.C. community stunned

The woman had told him that they were lighting the candle in memory of her husband, who had died in Montenegro before they moved to Vancouver.

Misilic said during the months after police announced Kai’s disappearance, police had been in touch with him and officers had visited the church more than once.

“They were looking for information and they used to come to church and talk to different people,” he said.

The news of the charges shocked the parish and some of the couples who socialized with the Bijelics told another priest, Father Marko Radmanovic, they searched their memories for any possible worrying signs.

“They told me, ‘Why didn’t we see, why we didn’t prevent this?’” said Radmanovic.

Misilic has been speaking by phone with Kai’s extended family in New Zealand, where his mother grew up, and in Montenegro, where Sarah Bijelic married her first husband. He died in 2022 of COVID complications, according to family members.

Misilic said he is consoling the family and helping them to prepare for a funeral planned for Montenegro, where Kai will be buried next to his father.

Helen Kok, the boy’s aunt in New Zealand, posted to her Facebook page that she will “forever have a huge Kai-shaped hole” in her heart.

“He was the light of my life, and (of) so many others. In his short time on this earth he brought joy, laughter, kindness and fun to everyone he met,” she wrote.

The case of Kai’s death dates back to Sept. 26, 2025, when Burnaby RCMP announced a missing person’s case after Kai’s overseas family, who had “grave concerns about his safety” because they hadn’t heard from him in the preceding year, asked police to check on him.

After several days of trying to locate him, Burnaby officers turned the case over to RCMP’s serious crimes unit.

A public plea was issued in late October 2025 for anyone knowing the whereabouts of Kai’s “caretaker,” an unidentified person police said at the time they believed to be with Kai. Police also wanted to speak to anyone who remembered any playdates, sports or extracurricular activities with Kai.

They said his family members, including his maternal grandmother from New Zealand, had travelled to B.C. to help with the search.

In June 2026, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team took the lead in the case, and his remains were discovered after that.

That same month, Branko Bijelic filed a family court petition against Sarah Bijelic in B.C. Supreme Court, according to court files. The details of that are not public.

Kai’s maternal relatives called Kai a “bright, curious, outgoing and kind little boy who loves to climb trees, build forts and learn to sail,” and he was an animal lover who particularly adored horses, cats and dogs.

“Kai’s family in New Zealand love him dearly,” they said last year.

Misilic said the church will hold a memorial prayer service called a Panakyda, reserved for funerals and other solemn affairs, for Kai on Nov. 13.

“We cling on to that faith that he’s still alive somewhere and that sustains me,” he said.

slazaruk@postmedia.com

With files from Postmedia News