Tanya Nepinak's family holding hope landfill search for her remains will happen after meeting with premier
'We're getting somewhere, but ... we need actions, not just talk,' says aunt Sue Caribou
The aunt of Tanya Nepinak, a Pine Creek First Nation woman who went missing more than a decade ago, says she's feeling hopeful after meeting with Premier Wab Kinew over her plea to search the Brady Road landfill for her niece's remains.
Sue Caribou led a march on Friday with roughly a dozen supporters who walked toward the Manitoba Legislature from Portage and Main, leading up to her conversation with Manitoba's premier.
"This is the first time I actually got through further than just the doors, got to an office to be able to speak to the leaders," Caribou told reporters after speaking directly with the premier.
"We're getting somewhere, but … we need actions, not just talk," she said.
In late March, Manitoba's government committed to search the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg for the remains of Ashlee Shingoose, recently identified as one of the four First Nations women murdered by serial killer Jeremy Skibicki in 2022.
First Nations leaders in Manitoba have since called for the search of the landfill to also include recovery efforts for Nepinak.
Kinew said on Tuesday he would be open to speaking with Nepinak's family, but that logistically, the search at Brady Road landfill would have to take a different approach than the search at the Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, where the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — also killed by Skibicki — were found this year.
Robyn Johnston, an advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, said Kinew told Nepinak's family that the province had already started looking into how they could try to recover her remains.
"Just like all the other assurances that he's provided to the other families that they would try, he's assured they will try," Johnston said.
Nepinak's family asked for confirmation of the search in writing, to which Kinew answered, "he was the premier," Johnston said.
"So we have to take his word for it," she added.
'Nobody belongs in the dump': Caribou
It's been more than 13 years since Nepinak went missing after she left her home on Winnipeg's Sherbrook Street in September 2011.
In June 2012, Shawn Lamb was charged with second-degree murder in connection with her death and disappearance. Those charges were later stayed, though he was convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of Carolyn Sinclair and Lorna Blacksmith.
Winnipeg police have said they believed Nepinak's body was dumped in a garbage bin and taken to the Brady Road landfill.
A search for her remains was launched in October 2012, but it was cancelled after six days with no evidence located.
During the meeting with Kinew, Caribou said the premier told them the province would need some time to figure out where Nepinak's body is — work that would entail speaking with officers involved in the case who used to work for Winnipeg police more than a decade ago and looking into the area that was last searched.
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"I gotta believe he's gonna do the right thing," Caribou said. "Nobody belongs in the dump."
Caribou said she thanked Kinew for opening up the space to meet with her.
"He actually listened to all my loved one's stories.… We actually got somewhere this time," she said.
Caribou is scheduled to speak with the premier again in early May for an update on how far the province has gotten on research and the next steps.
Until then, Caribou said she would light a smudge every day, in hopes the search for her niece's body will take place, and for other families still waiting to bring their loved ones home.
"We won't be the only ones to have a closure if they do search the landfills," she said.
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With files from Felisha Adam