Calls grow for Winnipeg police to search landfill for victims of alleged serial killer
Calls are growing louder for Winnipeg police to reconsider a decision not to search a landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women.
Officers believe the remains of Marcedes Myran, 26, and Morgan Harris, 39, were taken to the Prairie Green Landfill just north of Winnipeg earlier this year.
Investigators said they’re both victims of alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, 35, but police believe there's no hope of a successful recovery.
The decision not to proceed with a search for the women’s remains isn't sitting well with Jeannie White Bird, co-chair of the Manitoba MMIWG2S Family and Survivor Coalition.
"It's unconscionable," White Bird said during an interview in Selkirk, Man.
The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) explained Tuesday too much time passed and too many truckloads of garbage and construction clay had been dumped at Prairie Green by the time they became aware Myran, who they believe was killed on or about May.4, 2022, and Harris, who they believe was killed on or about May 1, 2022, were potentially at the site.
White Bird said she's thinking of their families.
"I can't even imagine what they're going through,” she said. “It must be devastating for them to hear that, to know that their family member is potentially in the landfill and that there will be no recovery."
Barry Blue, district manager of Prairie Green Landfill, told CTV News Winnipeg he is cooperating with authorities and called the situation an “unspeakable tragedy.”
He said the landfill is a dynamic and dangerous place with lots of equipment and people moving around which could make such a search challenging.
Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs wants the WPS to revisit its decision.
"We cannot leave them in a landfill without anybody attempting to search for them,” Merrick said in an interview from Ottawa. “That is so unhonourable even to consider that."
Kimberly Murray agrees. She’s a Mohawk official tasked with helping Indigenous communities investigate unmarked graves and a former executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
"I think about our women, that the Winnipeg police aren't going to search for those remains like that is a breach of human dignity,” Murray said during a gathering of Assembly of First Nations chiefs in Ottawa. “Those families have a right to know."
The partial remains of Rebecca Contois, another of Skibicki's alleged victims, were recovered this summer by the WPS from Brady Road Landfill. Police said in that case they were able to shut down the landfill within hours of learning in May remains had been found in a garbage bin.
Police said they don't know the whereabouts of a fourth victim known as Buffalo Woman, who they believe was killed around March 15, 2022.
Scott Gillingham, Winnipeg’s Mayor, said he's continuing talks with Indigenous leaders who are helping the victims’ families and doesn't think a search is out of the question.
"Nothing is closed to me,” Gillingham said Wednesday. “I'm open to whatever may be possible in the future."
That gives White Bird some hope a search is still possible.
"The door isn't shut,” White Bird said. “I also have faith in families. I have faith in the support networks we've built around families."
Merrick said some people want operations at the landfill halted until further discussions take place and if no search is conducted she said some feel the site should be permanently shut down.
Skibicki has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder. His lawyer has said he plans to plead not guilty to the charges.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
BREAKING Police cordon off Iran consulate in Paris where man threatens to blow himself up: French media
French police cordoned off the Iranian consulate in Paris on Friday, where a man was threatening to blow himself up, Europe 1 radio and BFM TV.
Some Canadian families will receive up to $620 per child today
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
BREAKING Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Ottawa to force banks to call carbon rebate a carbon rebate in direct deposits
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Ontario woman loses $15,000 to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.