A man who killed six members of the same B.C. family more than 25 years ago was denied parole at his first hearing Wednesday at Bowden Institution.

In August 1982, David Ennis, who then went by the last name David Shearing, killed George and Edith Bentley, their daughter Jackie Johnson, son-in-law Bob, and grandchildren Janet, 13, and Karen, 11.

The family had been camping in Wells Gray Park in the B.C. interior.

Police launched a massive search after Bob Johnson, who worked at a sawmill in Westbank, B.C., did not return to his job.

About a month later, the bodies of the four adults were found in a charred vehicle on the side of a mountain. In the trunk, police found the corpses of the two young girls.

The investigation eventually led to Shearing, who now goes by his mother's maiden name of Ennis, and he was arrested in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., in November 1983.

Following an intense interrogation, Shearing eventually confessed to shooting the six family members, loading the bodies into the car and setting it on fire.

In April 1984, he pleaded guilty to six counts of second-degree murder and received a sentence of life in prison with no eligibility of parole for 25 years.

Michael Eastham, a retired RCMP sergeant who led the murder investigation, said Ennis should not be released from prison.

"We're talking six lives here," Eastham told The Canadian Press. "He can never be forgiven for that, ever."

Last summer, friends of the victims launched a petition urging officials to keep Ennis behind bars.

"It's just an anxious time and I think a lot of people are angry. It's just bringing us all back to a place that we don't want to be in," Tamara Arishenkoff, who was friends with Janet Johnson, told the Canadian Press.

"I personally want it to be over and I hope the parole board makes the right decision."

On Wednesday, Ennis told the parole board that he should be granted parole because he'd like to make a positive contribution to society.

The board did not immediately give any reasons, but denied his request for both day and full parole.

The family of the victims are relieved Ennis will stay behind bars, but they say it's not over yet. Ennis will have the opportunity to apply for parole again in two years. They say they will make sure they are there each and every time Ennis applies for parole to make sure he never gets out of prison.