The Canadian modelling agency that represented a B.C. woman killed in Shanghai says she was employed by a legitimate Chinese company, and her death likely had nothing to do with her occupation.

Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, 22, had been hired for a three-month contract with China's JH Modelling Agency before she was found dead in the staircase of her apartment.

The company's website claims it's one of the top three modelling agencies in China. But when CTV's Steve Chao visited the agency's office, located in a run-down building, an employee said he had never heard of O'Brien.

There are reports O'Brien wanted to work as a photo model, as she had previously done in Milan, Italy, but instead was given work to promote whisky in bars.

Laura Coultish, of Victoria, B.C.-based Barbara Coultish Agency, said her company had sent another model to work for JH, and she had come back with a positive experience.

"We've had another model with them, who got exceptional jobs for her," she told CTV British Columbia. "She was very happy with them."

Barbara Coultish, who manages the agency's models, said O'Brien was experienced in working abroad because of her time in Milan.

"She knew how to travel, she knew how to say yes or no to the jobs she didn't want to do," she said.

O'Brien had apparently cut back her three-month contract with JH to one month, and was preparing to leave in two weeks. But her boyfriend, Joel Berry, said she was home-sick.

"She was missing home a lot ... and we all wanted her home too," Berry, visibly shaken, told CTV Newsnet. "It's just a huge loss. I find it hard to believe I'll ever meet anyone like her ever again."

Berry said he last spoke to her on July 6. They had been together for five years and had planned on spending a lifetime together.

He also said she was not concerned about the safety of her job.

"I don't have anyone to blame. She was living her dream. It was just a tragic, tragic loss," he said.

O'Brien, a 22-year-old from Salt Spring Island, B.C., had been working in China since mid-June.

Chao said police in Shanghai are keeping very quiet about the investigation into her death.

"They're not even acknowledging that there is a homicide case going on," he said.

In Ottawa, the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that a Canadian citizen was killed in Shanghai and that consular officials are assisting the family.

O'Brien's friends in Salt Spring said she was excited about her burgeoning career as a model and talked about travelling around the world.

"She talked about living abroad and was so excited," said Heath McDonnell, who worked with O'Brien for several years at a local restaurant. "She was supposed to go to Singapore in the fall and they wanted her to come a bit earlier. We were all so excited for her."

With reports from CTV's Steve Chao and CTV British Columbia