CANADA Canada - Bella Laboucan-McLean, 25, Toronto, 20 July 2013

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https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...an-fall-from-the-31st-floor-no-one-knows.html

bella-laboucan-mclean.jpg
Bella Laboucan-McLean
It’s been three years since her sister’s death, but Melina Laboucan-Massimo is still searching for answers.

She remembers an almost unbearable grief in the first year after her sister, Bella Nancy Marie Laboucan-McLean, fell to her death from a downtown Toronto condo unit on July 20, 2013; the numbness in the second year; and now, after the third, a sadness that can be kept at bay but occasionally rears its ugly head.

But through it all, Laboucan-Massimo has wanted to know the answer to one question — how did Bella, her bright, beautiful 25-year-old sister, a recent graduate of Humber College’s fashion arts program, plummet from that 31st-floor balcony to her death?

Three years later, she still doesn’t know.

“There’s no closure,” Laboucan-Massimo said on the phone from Lubicon Lake Cree traditional territory in northern Alberta, on the eve of the anniversary of Bella’s death. She had just stepped away from activities on the last day of a four-day annual memorial held for Bella on the land of her father’s community, 4,000 km from Toronto.
Bella’s family — her mother, father, two sisters and a little brother — have always rejected the idea that she intentionally jumped off the balcony. She was in the prime of her life, never had mental health issues and never spoke about harming herself, Laboucan-Massimo said.
Even to Toronto police investigators, the circumstances don’t really make sense.

According to police, Bella was in a unit at 21 Iceboat Terr., one in the cluster of glassy condos in CityPlace, with five others that Saturday morning.

Around 4:55 a.m., someone from a neighbouring building called police to report an “unknown disturbance”; when officers arrived, they found a woman sprawled on the ground next to 21 Iceboat. She had no identification on her, so police began a canvass of the condo, going door-to-door in hopes of finding someone who knew who she was.

Meanwhile, none of the people who were in the condo with Bella seemed to have noticed anything was amiss. It wasn’t until 5 p.m. that day, 12 hours later, that someone phoned police to report her missing.

Later on, when questioned by police, all would deny having seen or heard anything unusual; no one saw Bella go over the balcony railing, no one even seemed to have noticed that she was gone. Her phone, purse and shoes were still inside the condo

bella-laboucan-mclean-edi.jpg
a recent graduate of Humber College’s fashion arts program
 
http://www.itstartswithus-mmiw.com/bella


This page is dedicated to Bella Laboucan-McLean. These words are a celebration of Bella’s life and spirit. For those who didn’t get a chance to know Bella during the 25 years of her life, we want to express to you just how amazing, unique and beautiful she was.

Almost one year after Bella’s death her case still remains unsolved and is listed as suspicious. We do not know why or how Bella fell 31 stories from a high-rise condo in downtown Toronto. We hope people will come forward to help us solve her case. It is also important for the police to know that this case is being closely followed not only by our family, but the larger community who are concerned about the unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women. We urge The Toronto Police Service to maintain focus on the details regarding Bella’s death and providing answers to our family.

We also encourage other families to submit their loved one’s stories to this community-run data base so we can collectively gather data on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and have it controlled by our families and communities.
Bella came from a strong family that was very supportive of her. Family was important to her, and it was hard for her to move away from home. She spoke with her family often, almost everyday, and sought advice from her parents, big sisters, aunties, uncles and family friends.

Bella was one of the lucky First Nations young people who grew up with both parents in her life who have been together for over 25 years. Her Mom and Dad have been teachers and educators who developed Cree curriculum for language revitalization for the past 3 decades. Both parents graduated with a Masters in Education. Language and culture was an important part of both their lives, and this was passed onto Bella
Before her death, Bella was starting to come into her own and expressing herself as she’d always imagined herself - daring to dream as a young girl coming from a little reserve in Northern Alberta. Bella’s ambitions were becoming reality and she was growing into the young woman she always wanted to be. She was just on the verge of realizing her dreams and was looking to continue fashion school in London, England later that year
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But Bella's dreams were cut short, just after 3 months of graduating from Humber College she was found dead, leaving her family and friends without answers to the many questions we have been asking this past year.

For people who did not know Bella there exists a false perception that she passed away because she lived a “high risk lifestyle” but this is far from the truth. Bella cherished her life and she was looking forward to the many years ahead of her and talked regularly with her family about what her future goals and plans were
 
[video=youtube;jLMlh5LL2jI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMlh5LL2jI[/video]
 
I very much doubt this woman threw herself off the 31st floor - 5 others with her saw no distress etc hours prior to this fall?

Unless someone talks though - can't see anyone being held responsible. Despicable imo.
 

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