Drag the Red takes search for missing indigenous women ashore

Monday marks the one-year-anniversary of when 15-year-old TinaFontaine'sbody was pulled from the Red River.

Her death led to the formation of Drag the Red, a group of volunteers who search the river for clues they hope will help investigators solve cases of missing and murdered indigenous women.

KimKostiuk ledmembers of the group that searched along the banks of the river Sunday afternoon.

Kostiuk's 16-year-old daughter BeckyKostiukwas murdered in 2000 after attending a party.

"My heart is broken, it will never mend. I miss her so much," saidKostiuk, adding she struggled with depression and tried to commit suicide 13 times after her daughter's death.

"I didn't care about life anymore, didn't want to live. I wanted to die and I wanted to be with her."

Kostiukcredited her family and friends with helping her pull through what she described as the toughest time of her life.

Kostiukdrew strength from her daughter's death. It motivated her to get involved with Drag the Red and help others with missing loved ones attempt to find closure.

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She led a group on a ground search on Sunday to commemorate the day Fontaine's body was pulled out of the Red River last summer.

Volunteers like Tasha Benjamin swept the tall grass and shrubs along shorelines of the river around the Disraeli Bridge during the Sunday search.

She said the circumstances surrounding Fontaine's death brokeher heart.

"Ever since the Tina Fontaine incident, ever since she was found, I think as a community we need to come out here. If we don't, who will?" said Benjamin.

Kostiuk said the ground search looks for items like wrist ties and clothing, and anything else that might be associated with a crime scene.

She said she hopes they find items that help advance police investigations, adding shedoesn't plan to stop searching anytime soon.

"You can't ... rest until you have something to prove it's them, if they are alive or gone. I do it because this is what I'm meant to do."