The Winnipeg Police Service announced on Wednesday that it will begin a massive search effort soon for the body of Tanya Nepinak, a victim of alleged serial killer Shawn Lamb.
Police said Nepinak’s body was disposed of in a west end dumpster about eight months ago.
“You know these other girls were found and then my sister gets hidden and they throw her away like garbage,” said Gail Nepinak, the victim’s sister.
Investigators believe the dumpster was emptied at the Brady Road Landfill. A section of the dump will now be searched by officers.
The search is being called a large scale operation, as the area is five meters deep, 100 m long and 20 m wide. Police say eight meters of clay and garbage will have to be removed to get to the location.
“This is something the Winnipeg Police Service has never undertaken before,” said Police Chief Keith McCaskill.“We've certainly done searches on a smaller scale, but this is a mammoth scale.”
McCaskill said it could take around 250 people to conduct the search. However, it’s not clear yet where the personnel will come from.
He said it will take weeks for the clay and garbage to be removed and officers will be looking for pieces of Nepinak’s remains.
The chief said the Winnipeg Police Service is taking on this massive search because “it’s the right thing to do” and hopes it will give Nepinak’s family some closure.
The family visited the landfill last week after being told by police the body was suspected to be buried there.
“Being there and knowing that she was amongst all that garbage really made me angry,” said Vernon Mann, the victim’s ex-husband. “Just to think that nothings been done about it and that she's been there for that long already.”
In June, police arrested Shawn Cameron Lamb and charged him with the murders of Tanya Nepinak, Carolyn Sinclair and Lorna Blacksmith.
-- with a report from CTV’s Caroline Barghout
