Mounties say autopsies have begun to identify family found dead near border

WINNIPEG -

Mounties say autopsies have begun as they try to identify the four people who were found dead in a frigid Manitoba blizzard near the United States border.

The bodies, including those of a baby and a teenager, were located on Jan. 19 in the snow near Emerson, Man., just metres from the border.

American officials say they are believed to be a family that was separated from a larger group of Indian migrants trying to enter the U.S. from Canada.

RCMP say identification is still pending.

A Florida man, Steve Shand, has been charged in the U.S. with human smuggling.

Police in Gujarat -- the western Indian state where the family is believed to be from -- say they are investigating whether those who died are a missing family from that region.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2021.