Slain Woman Was Devoted to Relief Work : Crime: A former Redondo Beach resident who was helping orphaned Russian children was found dead this week in her Moscow apartment. Police have no suspects or motive.

Friends and family members say Laura Binkley was devoting her life to helping some of the most desperate people of an increasingly troubled nation--the orphaned children of Russia.

But that life of devotion ended this week when Binkley, 32, a former Redondo Beach resident who had gone to Russia to work for an international relief organization, was found murdered in her apartment in Moscow.

“God had always taken care of her, but I guess he decided he wanted her back,” Binkley’s mother, Fay Binkley of Toronto, said in a telephone interview. “I hope people will pray for Russia, and for the orphans. I want Laura’s life to stand for something.”

Authorities said Binkley, a Canadian citizen, apparently had been strangled. Her body was discovered by Russian friends Monday when they went to her downtown Moscow apartment after she did not show up for a meeting, Austin Forsyth, a friend and co-worker of Binkley’s, said in a telephone interview from Moscow. Friends saw the body through a balcony window and called police, he said.

Although Moscow police have not determined a motive for the murder, Binkley’s apartment key apparently had been stolen last month by a Russian woman Binkley had befriended, and Binkley was known to keep small amounts of money in a safe in her apartment, Forsyth said.

Binkley’s body is expected to be returned soon to Canada for burial, Forsyth said.

Binkley was working in Russia for the Adam Children’s Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Palos Verdes Estates that helps coordinate international adoptions and provides assistance for orphanages in several former Communist-bloc countries.

The recent political and economic upheavals in Russia have left many orphanages there perilously short on employees and supplies and other necessities, Forsyth and others said.

Binkley had been assisting an orphanage in Orekhovo-Zuyevo, a village about 60 miles east of Moscow, procuring food and other supplies and trying to entertain the children. She would spend several days each week at the orphanage and usually return to Moscow on weekends.

“It’s a loss for all of us, but for the children in the orphanage most of all,” said Forsyth, who is in charge of the fund’s Moscow operations. “She really fell in love with those kids, and I know they loved her, too.”

A native of Toronto, Binkley graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in languages, her mother said. Later she attended seminary and earned a degree in theological studies. She had traveled extensively and spoke half a dozen languages, including Russian.

Binkley came to Southern California in 1991 to work as a youth minister at Lunada Bay Christian Fellowship in Palos Verdes Estates, said Wayne Coombs, senior pastor at the church and executive director of the Adam Children’s Fund. During that time she lived in Redondo Beach.

Last spring Binkley visited Russia, and in July she moved there permanently to work as a paid staff member for the fund.

“It’s a terrible blow,” Coombs said. “She was incredibly bright, a wonderful person, with an incredible talent for helping people.”

Bill Milner, vice consul at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow, said he was unable to discuss specifics of the Binkley case. But he said that to his knowledge, Binkley is the first Canadian citizen murdered in Moscow in recent memory.

“I had never really worried about her being there,” Fay Binkley said. “I always felt she was under the Lord’s protection. I feel she’s safe now with the Lord.” Binkley added, her voice breaking with emotion, “But we will all miss her so much.”

Binkley’s other survivors include her father, Raymond Binkley, a sister and a foster sister. A memorial service will be Sunday at 10 a.m. at Lunada Bay Christian Fellowship, 2161 Via Olivera in Palos Verdes Estates.