Searchers begin sifting at landfill for remains of slain First Nations women

WINNIPEG — Excavation and sifting started Monday of a section of a landfill believed to hold the remains of two slain First Nations women.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he was at the site when the first truck moved a load of refuse from the area to a Quonset hut, where searchers are manually sifting through it in the hope of finding the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

Police believe the remains of the women were sent to the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg in May 2022.

Jeremy Skibicki is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in the killings of Harris, Myran and two other Indigenous women. Court heard he disposed of their bodies in garbage bins.

The remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a different landfill and an unidentified woman, who an Indigenous grassroots community named Buffalo Woman, has not been located.

Kinew said he was at the landfill on Sunday for a traditional ceremony with family members of Harris and Myran. They all returned early Monday to watch that first blue dump truck carry a load to the sifting facility.

“It is an intense emotion that you feel standing on that site with those families,” Kinew said. “I hope that you know that you are loved and valued and that Morgan and Mercedes are loved and valued.”

He added that dates on some garbage, including a milk carton and newspapers, indicate searchers are looking in the right area of the landfill.

Asbestos has also been found, he said, but it has been safely moved, and workers are wearing full protective gear.

Kinew said it has officially been two years since the family of Harris learned she had been killed. In that time, he said, there have been many difficult moments as well as some division over whether there should be a search of the landfill.

Manitobans powered through, he said.

The provincial and federal governments each committed in March to providing $20 million to fund the search.

“When we work together, we can move mountains,” Kinew said. “Today, at Prairie Green, we are moving a mountain.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2024.

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press