CANADA Canada - Annette Holywhiteman, 44, Edmonton, AB, 25 Aug 2008

Hunters found the remains of an aboriginal man in his 40s last week.

The remains consist of a human skull and some other bones that have been exposed to the elements for more than two years

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A woman whose skull was found near Westlock, Alta. in November 2010 has been identified by police as 44-year-old Annette Holywhiteman.

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A second search of the property in May 2011 turned up more skeletal remains, which RCMP say allowed the Edmonton Medical Examiner to determine the victim’s age and Aboriginal descent.

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Annette Margaret Holywhiteman was last seen in the Edmonton, Alberta, area late in the summer of 2008. The 44-year-old woman’s skull was found by hunters in November 2010 on a rural property near Westlock, Alta. She was known to have led a high-risk lifestyle.

The KARE unit, an RCMP entity that investigates and reviews files of murdered or missing vulnerable persons throughout Alberta, is handling the homicide case.

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Confirmation that remains found near Westlock are those of a missing sex trade worker is a “shot to the heart” for an Edmonton social worker... She knew the victim, identified this week as Annette Holywhiteman, 44...

She says Holywhiteman was a calm, passive woman, but would never fail to stick up for herself if the situation called for it.

Like many of the women that Thomason helps, however, Holywhiteman had an unshakeable drug addiction that would keep her tangled in the street life... “She was on the path. She completed treatment. She was making the efforts. But the demon of the drug was more powerful than what we could help her with.”

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