WINNIPEG — Relatives of two murdered Indigenous women expressed shock, hope and anger Thursday, after receiving news that potential human remains have been found at a landfill where their loved ones were believed to have been taken.
“I think the shock of everything has finally hit me,” Melissa Robinson, a cousin of Morgan Harris, said at a press conference sitting beside other relatives
“To every one of you that said no (to a search), to every one of you that didn’t believe in us, do better,” said Harris’s daughter Elle Harris.
“How could you say no to a little girl. That’s my mom in there.”
Police believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were taken to the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg in May 2022. Jeremy Skibicki was convicted last year of murdering Harris, Myran and two other Indigenous women.
Police and the former Progressive Conservative provincial government refused requests to search the landfill, citing safety concerns related to toxic materials and asbestos.
The Tories ran advertisements in the 2023 election campaign that touted their decision to say no.
The NDP government, elected that year, promised to launch a search and, in conjunction with the federal government, funded the effort that began in December after site preparation work was complete.
Premier Wab Kinew said the identification of the potential human remains found Wednesday could take a while and the search would continue in the meantime.
“It angers me that if people would have just listened to us in the first place, we would have brought these women home a lot sooner,” said Myran’s sister Jorden Myran.
Skibicki’s trial heard he targeted his victims at homeless shelters in Winnipeg and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood.
The remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a garbage bin and at a different landfill.
Those of an unidentified woman Indigenous grassroots community members named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, have not been located and police have not said where they might be.