Canada - Edmonton LE, Firefighters, drag Sask River for bodies of missing persons

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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2014/09/03/21916581.html
bbm.
"Body found 15 minutes into sweep of river for missing persons"


"While neither police nor RCMP were working to locate anyone specific, city cops currently have 86 historical files of missing persons dating back to the early 1970s. Alberta RCMP have 36 cases of missing persons from communities near the river, four of whom are known to have entered the river area before disappearing.

One such case is Dylan Koshman, just 21 years old when he went missing from his southside apartment Oct. 11, 2008, after arguing with his cousin.

Another is Shelly Dene, who was 26 when her family lost contact with her last November.

"Someone, somewhere, knows something about my sister's whereabouts," Candice Lhommecourt said at an awareness walk organized by Dene's family in June.

The Edmonton search, including three boats and the Air-1 cop chopper, for human remains started at the boat launch near the EPCOR Water treatment facility and fanned out east and west."
 
http://metronews.ca/news/edmonton/1144208/edmonton-police-find-mans-body-during-river-search/


"Within 15 minutes of Edmonton police dispatching boats to sweep the shorelines of the North Saskatchewan River as part of a proactive attempt to locate human remains, searchers discovered the body of an unidentified man.

While few details are being released about the body, EPS Missing Persons Unit Sgt. Neil Zurawell said Wednesday was a first for police, as they partnered with Edmonton Fire and Rescue and park rangers to search the river as water levels begin to drop.

“River levels are low, we’re checking shorelines where there is any debris — sandbars, gravel bars — anywhere where a body could get hung up,” he said."
 
Very excited when new and innovative techniques are employed to help find missing persons and to solve crimes!


http://globalnews.ca/news/1541616/police-conduct-sweep-of-north-saskatchewan-river-shoreline/

"EDMONTON – For the first time, a new initiative will see Edmonton police, along with several other organizations, conduct a search of the North Saskatchewan River shoreline to locate any potential human remains.

Wednesday’s exercise is led by the EPS Missing Persons Unit. It also involves police helicopter Air 1, the Edmonton Fire and Rescue boat, and City of

“This is a first-time initiative that will focus resources on searching the river and its shoreline for possible human remains from one end of the city to the other,” said EPS Const. Cory Kerr, of the service’s Missing Persons Unit."
 
That's is an interesting approach. I'm a bit surprised by the general nature of the search, but it's good. Searching is always good.
 
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/09/17/police-boat-will-supervise-river-search

"Winnipeg police say they support the efforts of a group planning to drag the Red River Wednesday night, and have been in communication with organizers in the lead-up.

Winnipeg police Const. Jason Michalyshen told a media gathering Wednesday morning police would not be participating in the actual dredging of the river, but would be on hand to provide support and monitor the situation.

“Whether we’re in a search capacity or a recovery capacity the safety of not only our emergency personnel that are involved but also the public who have now taken it upon themselves to do this search, we want to make sure everyone involved is safe while doing so,” he said."
 
" WINNIPEG -- Volunteers searching for clues about the fate of missing and murdered aboriginal women have found bones along the banks of the Red River in Winnipeg.

Police are now analyzing the remains, found Tuesday evening, but don't know yet if they are human. A blood-splattered pillowcase, a bloody rug and a set of dentures have also been turned over to police following a few tentative searches by the group determined to drag the river for bodies.

For those relatives of missing women, every potential clue unearthed by the river brings an onslaught of emotion. Bernadette Smith -- whose sister Claudette Osborne has been missing since 2008 -- said everyone immediately wonders if they will finally find out what happened to their loved one."

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/volunt...-winnipeg-s-red-river-1.2011427#ixzz3Dbob67ls
 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...h-prepares-for-missing-women/article20640715/

"Const. Michalyshen said experts at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will analyze the bones to determine if they’re human. If so, the remains will be submitted to the RCMP Forensic Science and Identification Services facility in Ottawa for DNA analysis and, if possible, comparison to samples related to unsolved cases.

“[The bones] were pretty big,” Ms. Smith said, adding the remains didn’t appear to have come from a small animal. “It resembles an adult bone – a leg or a thigh bone.”

Dr. David Burley, the chair of the archaeology department at Simon Fraser University (SFU), said the bones “could be anything” but that it’d be simple for a trained eye to determine if they are human or animal, so long as the remains are in mostly whole form. “The human skeleton is pretty easy to identify,” he said, adding that SFU archaeology students were involved in the effort to recover bones from the farm of convicted serial killer Robert Pickton"
 
Some families or a family might be able to put a loved one to rest. This is so sad.
 
http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/family-says-relative-s-body-found-in-red-river-1.2016623


" One family says it's their relative, Sandra Murray, that was found.

They say she likely wouldn't have been found without the help of volunteers from the Drag the Red effort to find the bodies of missing and murdered indigenous women.

“We can credit pretty much everybody that was searching,” said Darryl Contois, Murray’s brother. “I’m not going to deliberate on who pulled her or who did what, but I’m glad everyone was there and we found her when we did.”

“They’ve been snagging a lot of things” said MKO Grand Chief David Harper. “And it’s very unfortunate, these things do happen, but it is, in a way, a blessing for the family.”

The family says finding the body offers closure".
 
I was told that years and years ago a young kids from my family fell in the south Saskatchewan river near medicine hat. I always wondered if and where his remains would be found.( I know I'made strange)
I really hope they find these people. I think the government is funding the missing woman of Manitoba. Which is great.
So would they just do the river or other water forms?
Hoping it is successful and other provinces/ states do it.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/cold-mud-ending-winnipeg-drag-of-the-red-river-1.2788800

"Too many leaves and too much cold wet weather is forcing the organizers of Drag the Red to end their search for clues into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Bernadette Smith, who spearheaded the Drag the Red initiative, expects the search by boats in the water to wrap up Oct. 25.

Those who have been walking the riverbank, combing through the grass, trees and scrub will finish up earlier, likely at the end of this week, she said. The cold, wet weather along with all the leaves and the mud is now making things too difficult for them.
"
The efforts will resume in the spring as soon as possible, she said.
 
"Volunteer Neil Walstrom says they’ve discovered many items people don’t want found, including objects tied to cinder blocks and dropped to the bottom of the river.

Walstrom said he’s determined to shine light on whatever clues the river might be hiding. “The big thing is letting the families know that we care,” Walstrom said. “They’re not alone.”

Searchers hang a long metal bar off the back of their boat and drag it horizontally along the bottom of the river. Any time the bar hooks on something along the riverbed, they drag the item up and show it to police.

‘Drag the Red’ volunteers say they’ve already given police more than 100 items to examine"

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/volunt...sing-aboriginal-women-1.2040495#ixzz3FTtwSshM
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...-forensics-crash-course-in-winnipeg-1.3103321


Drag the Red searchers get forensics crash course in Winnipeg
Workshop designed to help volunteers spot bones in search areas along Red River

CBC News Posted: Jun 06, 2015


"'What bone looks like'

"Bone can look like lots of things. It has a very particular structure: hard dense outer layer, looks like a tube," said Holland, adding once bones are recovered they need to be sent to an expert to be identified.

A range of bones from different species were on hand for the group. (Angela Johnston/CBC)

"It's just about really making sure they know what bone looks like."

She added that searchers could come across partial remains on shorelines.

"These aren't nice things to think about but these are the kinds of things that happen," said Holland.

"As a forensic anthropologist, I do that part of my work because people matter. I can't do anything about what has happened to someone before, but I can try to help find them. I can help ID them and help tell their story and bring closure to families."

Drag the Red plans to search every day until October."
 
"Published on Sep 10, 2015

Winnipeg's Red River has long been thought of as the unofficial graveyard for the the city's criminal underbelly. But when the body of a 15-year old First Nations girl named Tina Fontaine was pulled from the river wrapped in a garbage bag in August 2014, it shocked the city and the country as a whole. A group of volunteers decided to take to the water to do what they say police won't.

VICE embedded with the crew of "Drag the Red" ground searchers checking the banks of the river for fresh bodies and with a boat crew who use fish hooks to search the river for bodies that may have sunk to the bottom. We also spoke with the local police division about why they refuse to drag the river themselves and what's going on with the unsolved cases for missing and murdered aboriginal women"

[video=youtube;K8iDzIQW0XE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8iDzIQW0XE[/video]
 
Lengthy article, lots of info. pics and video.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...-of-the-missing-in-winnipegs-red-river-1.html
By: Jennifer Wells Business Columnist, Published on Sun Dec 06 2015

"Searching for traces of the missing in Winnipeg’s Red River
The Red River makes people disappear. And it brings people together — volunteers who spend hours dredging its waters for clues to the fate of murdered and missing indigenous women, suicidal youth, loved ones who have never been found"
 

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/drag-the-red-winnipeg-manitoba-missing-and-murdered-1.3684855

Drag the Red sets out on new boat to search fast-moving waters

Jul 18, 2016

kayleen-mckay.jpg
Kayleen McKay, 18, bought a new boat for Drag the Red with nearly $16,000 she raised by running from Manitoba's Duck Bay to Winnipeg.

drag-the-red.jpg
The side of Drag the Red's new boat reads, 'Shawn,' a reference to 18-year-old Kayleen McKay's cousin, Shawn Nepinak, who took his own life by entering the Red River in 2015
kyle-kematch.jpg
Kyle Kematch
"It eases my mind to know I'm doing the best to find my sister. She's been missing for six years now," he said.

"In my eyes, everybody deserves to go home."

The return home Kematch describes is synonymous with closure for families — particularly those with loved ones among 1,017 Indigenous women killed between 1980 and 2012 and 169 more listed as missing, the earliest case dating back to 1952.

The new boat, which an Indigenous elder blessed in a smudging ceremony on Monday, brings about renewed hope that families will get that closure, Kematch said.

"It's hard knowing those answers might be at the bottom of the river but if they're there, somebody has to go and try to find them," he said.
Click to expand...
 
R.I.P.

  • Community members are mourning the death of Drag the Red co-founder Kyle Kematch, who is being remembered as a tireless advocate for murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls and their families.
September 3, 2021
'We lost a huge champion': Community mourns death of MMIWG2S advocate, co-founder of Drag the Red
''WINNIPEG -- Community members are mourning the death of Drag the Red co-founder Kyle Kematch, who is being remembered as a tireless advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and their families.

Bernadette Smith, MLA for Point Douglas, said she was told by family on Friday that Kematch had died. She and Kematch had been among the co-founders of Drag the Red.

The grassroots group was started following the 2014 death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine. The group searches Winnipeg rivers for the remains of missing people or other clues which may help investigators.

Had it not been for Kematch, Smith said Drag the Red would probably never have been started.

"Kyle was the one who – when I put it on social media – said, 'Let's do it, the police aren't going to do it. Let's just do it,'" she said. "Had he not said that, we probably wouldn't have been here 13 years later dragging this river, helping to give families hope and bringing community together."
 
Noting this recently found UID Doe on the banks of the Red River..
www.websleuths.com

CANADA - Canada- Red River, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Partial remains of female, 20+yrs, on riverbank close to a walking/cycling path, 15 April 2023

April 18 2023 https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2023/04/18/partial-remains-of-unidentified-woman-found-along-the-red-river-in-winnipeg.html ''Winnipeg police are trying to identify human remains found along the Red River north of the city’s downtown. The remains were found Saturday afternoon...
www.websleuths.com www.websleuths.com
 
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