Two young sisters found dead near Victoria, remembered as being 'bundles of energy'

Chloe and Aubrey Berry were bundles of energy.

The girls loved to draw, play dress-up and put on performances. Chloe, 6, was in the first grade and had just gotten into horseback riding. Aubrey, 4, was in preschool and emerging as her own little person.

The sisters were killed inside a Victoria-area home on Christmas Day. Police say a man who was found injured at the residence has been taken to hospital and they are not seeking further suspects. The man has not been charged and police have declined to confirm his identity or relationship to the girls.

Sandra Hudson, a long-time friend of the girls' mother, said they were with their father on Christmas Day. She said police were called after he failed to return the girls to their mother.

Ms. Hudson remembered Chloe and Aubrey as "delightful."

"They were very smart, they were funny," she said in an interview. "The best kids you would ever want to spend time with."

Ms. Hudson said she saw the girls last week and they were very excited for Christmas.

Trisha Lees, who is also a close friend of the mother, said the girls were like their mom in that they had a spirit and glow that drew other people in.

"They're a delight to be around. They're very much bundles of energy both of them, very silly a lot of the time as little girls often are," she said in an interview.

Frank Cotton, the girls' great-uncle, noted Chloe had been learning to ride horses.

"[Chloe] was doing very well. She was catching on to riding properly. And it's all over," he said in an interview.

Police in Oak Bay, which is part of Greater Victoria, have said they were notified of a potential incident at approximately 5 p.m. on Dec. 25.

The police department has said officers subsequently checked a home and discovered two deceased individuals, as well as one who was injured.

The department said there was no reason to believe the public was at risk and the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit – which includes the RCMP – would take over the investigation.

The RCMP on Tuesday described the incident as a double homicide and said investigators were executing a search warrant at the residence. It said investigators expected to be at the home for the remainder of the week.

"This is a devastating incident and we cannot begin to express our sympathy to all those touched by this tragedy," Corporal Shane Rappel of the major crime unit wrote in a statement.

Corporal Tammy Douglas, an RCMP spokesperson, said when reached by phone Wednesday that the investigation was continuing and there was no further information to be released.

Ms. Lees said the girls' mother, Sarah Cotton, was in a relationship with their father from 2009 until 2013. She said the pair had been common-law partners and shared custody of Chloe and Aubrey.

Ms. Lees said the family and those close to it appreciated the outpouring of support they had received. She said Ms. Cotton was doing as well as she could under the circumstances.

Ms. Hudson described Ms. Cotton as a wonderful mother who devoted her life to her girls.

"She's a very outgoing, beautiful, friendly, very much loved member of the community and Chloe and Aubrey were both like that," she said.

Ms. Lees said a service for the girls will be held but the plans have not been finalized.

With a report from The Canadian Press