Leanne Sanders
APTN News
Warning: This story contains distressing details. Please read with care
The Manitoba government says the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Manitoba’s coroner have been called in after experts taking part in a search for two missing First Nations women in a private landfill outside Winnipeg identified potential human remains.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have now initiated a “found human remains investigation at the site and steps for identification are underway,” according to a release from the Manitoba government Wednesday afternoon.
“The families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran have been notified of the development and attended the site,” the release said.
It is the first evidence of human remains since the search of material at the Prairie Green Landfill was launched on Dec. 2, 2024. Police have said the remains were emptied from garbage trucks in 2022.
Harris and Myran were murdered by serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, 37, who disposed of their bodies in commercial garbage bins near his home between March and May, 2022.
Manitoba’s NDP government and Ottawa are paying for the search, with $20 million committed. The search has been concentrated in an area of the landfill identified as most likely to contain refuse from Skibicki’s neighbourhood during the time of the murders.
The remains of another Skibicki victim, Rebecca Contois, were found in a different landfill and the remains of an unidentified woman, who an Indigenous grassroots community named Buffalo Woman, have not been located.
The government has asked that the privacy of the victim’s families be respected. It said as “facts are confirmed, relevant authorities will provide further updates.”
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said it stands in solidarity with the families as the news was revealed.
“Let us be clear: It should never have taken this long. No family should have had to fight this hard to find their loved ones. And we will not stop demanding that governments do better,” Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said in a news release.
“Our work does not end here. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs will continue to stand with these families to ensure that this search is carried out with the utmost care and that every possible measure is taken to recover the remains of Morgan and Marcedes.”
Winnipeg police acknowledged the news of the discovery in a brief statement.
“The Winnipeg Police Service is aware that searchers have recovered potential human remains at the Prairie Green Landfill. Our thoughts go out to the MMIWG2S+ community and all families who are awaiting word on their missing loved ones,” the statement from Chief Arthur Stannard said.
The Winnipeg Police Service was heavily criticized for not launching a search for remains earlier, citing dangerous conditions for searchers. The former Conservative government also refused to support the search due to the high cost involved with no guarantee remains would be found.
