The province says it has begun the third stage of its plans to search the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg.
The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — victims of convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki — are believed to have been taken to the landfill in 2022.
Skibicki was convicted of first-degree murder in their deaths, as well as the murders of two other Indigenous women — Rebecca Contois, whose remains were found in a different landfill near the city, and an unidentified woman who has been named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) by the Indigenous community.
“It’s been two years now that my mom’s been laying in a landfill as well as Marcedes Myran. That’s two years too long. I’m excited to finally be getting this this on the way,” said Cambria Harris, Morgan Harris’ daughter.
Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday that the search facility pad is almost complete and excavators have begun moving material above the targeted zone at Prairie Green. Engineering assessments of the targeted zone are also complete.
“Our government is making significant progress in our compassionate search of the Prairie Green Landfill,” Kinew said in a statement.
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“This is about doing the right thing and sending a message to all Manitobans that you matter and deserve dignity. When someone goes missing, we go looking.”
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He said the site has been constructed to maximize the health and safety of both the people who are conducting the search, as well as the environment.
The province, in concert with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), began a recruitment process late last month for technicians to help forensic anthropologists search the landfill. Kinew said job postings closed in early October.
Debate over whether or not to search the landfill for the victims’ remains took place over two years, with Manitoba’s previous Progressive Conservative government staunchly opposed for what it said were safety reasons. Searching the landfill became a key issue in the October 2023 provincial election, with current Premier Wab Kinew and the NDP in support and the incumbent PCs opposed.
Kinew has said he feels for the family members who have had to deal with not only the politicization of the subject, but also Skibicki’s gruelling trial process, which wrapped up in late August when he was handed four concurrent life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years.
“I think about the grief that my family had to go through the last two years, and it’s something that… no human being should ever have to go through,” Cambria Harris said. “I think that’s what we need to remember at the end of the day, is that we’re only human and so are the women in those landfills.”
She said she is hopeful the search will provide closure.
“We’re finally seeing that light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m grateful for that. I hope that it helps shine a light on MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Two-Spirited people), but also… hopefully helps bring that voice back to those voiceless people who aren’t able to stand and speak on their (own) behalf today.”
Next steps for the search, the province says, include excavating and searching the targeted zone where officials believe the remains of the two women are located. This fourth stage of five will begin later this fall.
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