CREDIT: Handout photo, Vancouver Sun Manjit Panghali

Panghali, 30, who was four months pregnant and was a popular Grade 1 teacher, had not been seen alive since Oct. 18 when she emerged from a yoga class about a 15-minute drive from her home in suburban Cloverdale. She was described as relaxed that night.

She leaves behind a husband and a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, who family say she adored.

As the investigation into her disappearance deepened through the week, police kept their cards unusually close to their vests. When Panghali’s silver Honda, for example, was found in a Surrey park, police refused to name the park.

On Thursday, police said they will continue to keep the murder investigation under close wraps.

“Police are not making any assumptions or drawing any conclusions with respect to suspects or motive,” said police spokesperson Sharlene Brooks.

“This will be without doubt a very complex, and multifaceted investigation. We would like to provide as much information to the public as we can. However, we must remain diligent in protecting every aspect of the investigation while respecting the privacy of the family.

“Therefore, no further information will be provided after today and no additional information is anticipated to be released in the coming days or weeks as we continue our investigation.”

The case has taken a number of puzzling twists and turns.

Husband Mukhtiar Panghali, a high school science teacher, said he did not report his wife missing to police for more 26 hours after she failed to come home from the yoga class. He said he wanted to make sure first that she was not staying with friends or relatives, even that would have been out of character for her.

He also said that when he tried to reach her on her cellphone, it was turned off.

“She was as happy as could be,” he told a packed press conference earlier this week. He said there had been no problems in the marriage.

“She would not leave her family alone, she would not leave her daughter alone and she would not leave me alone.”

Another twist to the story is that her brother in law, Sukhvinder Singh Panghali, lived with the couple until three weeks ago when he left. He has charged Sept. 5 with stalking a former girlfriend last summer and was accompanied to court by his brother the day before the disappearance.