'We miss and we love Tanya': Tanya Nepinak’s birthday marked 13 years after she was last seen
Tanya Nepinak was last seen 13 years ago, today would have been her birthday.
Thursday, her life was honoured in Winnipeg with a walk from the corner of Ellice Ave. and Sherbrook St. to the MMIWG2S+ Monument at The Forks.
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Once the group made it to the monument, a small ceremony was held, the crowd sang Happy Birthday and cake was served.
“I am very overwhelmed. I have a lot of mixed feelings today,” said Sue Caribou, Nepinak’s aunt.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve celebrated Tanya’s birthday and today is so emotional for me.”
Nepinak's aunt Sue Caribou remembered her neice Tanya as a giving person and honoured her spirit Thursday Oct. 10, 2024. (Scott Andersson/CTV News Winnipeg)
Nepinak was 31 years old when she went missing in September 2011.
Her missing persons' case was ruled a homicide even though her body was never found.
In June 2012 Shawn Lamb was charged with second-degree murder for Nepinak’s death and the deaths of two other women, Lorna Blacksmith, 18, and Carolyn Sinclair, 25. In November 2013, Lamb was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the other two cases but he denied killing Nepinak and the charges in her case were stayed.
Investigators believe her body was put in a West End dumpster and a year after she vanished Winnipeg Police unsuccessfully searched Brady Landfill for her body.
Speakers at Thursday’s event renewed their calls for Winnipeg’s landfills to be searched for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
“I think they should search all the landfills and consider landfills as a crime scene and stop putting trash on our loved ones,” said Caribou. “They are not trash.”
“We miss and we love Tanya,” she added.
In Nepinak’s memory, Caribou gave out t-shirts with Nepinak’s name and face on the front and text below the decal reads ‘Justice for Tanya.’
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