Autopsy needed to ID human remains found at Brady landfill during Rebecca Contois search

WARNING: This article contains disturbing details.

Winnipeg police have found human remains at the Brady Road landfill during a search connected to the killing of Rebecca Contois.

Police searched a section of the landfill after Contois'spartial remains were found on May 16 in North Kildonan.

An autopsy will determine whether the remains found at the landfill are Contois, police said. The section of the landfillwhere police searched remains blocked off.

After the 24-year-old's partial remains were discovered in a garbage binoutside an apartment building on Edison Avenue, policebelieved some of her remains may have been taken to the landfill during a residential pickup.

They contacted the landfill and halted dumping so police couldsecurean area at the site, which is just south of Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway.

Initially, the searchencompassedan area the size of three or four football fields.

Poor weather and preparation work delayed the start of the search until June 2.

Jeremy Anthony Micheal Skibicki, 35, has beencharged with first-degree murder in Contois's death.

In May, police saidthere may be more victims connected to the investigation.

No new victims have been identified, and no charges have been laid in connection withthe latest discovery, Const. Dani McKinnon said at a news conference Wednesday.

"Nothing has changed,in terms that it could be a possibility, but we just don't have evidence to prove that or lay charges at this time."

Contois, who had a daughter,was a member of Crane River First Nation and grew up in Winnipeg. Sheis one of three First Nations women killed in Winnipeg in a two-week span last month.

Doris Trout, 25, was found dead in an apartment lobby on Kennedy Avenue in downtown Winnipeg on May 19, days after Contois was found dead. Tessa Perry, a mother of four, was found critically injured at a home in The Maples on May 28 and later died.

Contois's death has had a significant impact on the community, said Angie Tuesday,the police service's support and resource advocate for families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse people.

"If it happens to one, it impacts all of us," she said at the news conference, which also included Bonnie Emerson, head of the community support division.

"This particular case, the details that have been released have been very traumatic on the family, of course, but also on other families who have experienced this loss before and are currently experiencing those losses."

On the day thatnews of her death was announced, around 100 people, including members of Contois's family, gathered for a vigil near where her remains were found.

Police have tried to conduct their investigation in a culturally sensitive manner, McKinnon said, involving the police service's own support staff for families, as well as community organizations like Ka Ni Kanichihk.

"My involvement in thepolice service is recognizing that words matter and how are we sharing what we are doing," said Emerson.

"In the past, I have witnessed extraordinary caring and efforts on part of the police service and I don't think the police service did a good job articulating that.So we are looking at how do we do a better job, how do we be aware of what we are doing in a trauma-informed way."

Searchers at the landfill faced many challenges, Insp.Cam MacKid, of the forensics, intelligence and technology unit, saidat the news conference.

Searchers wore biohazard suits to protect them from contamination, but the suits trapped heat, forcing staff to rotate every 20 minutes or so to avoid exhaustion. They also dealt with uneven terrain, as they searched through garbage piles that could reach as high as 10 feet.

The last time police searched the landfill for human remains was during a search for amissing Indigenous woman.

Tanya Nepinak,31, was last seen on Sept. 13, 2011, leaving her Winnipeg home. In October 2012, police searched an area of the landfill, but no remains were recovered.

Nepinak's body was never found.

Brady Road landfill search

2 years ago

Duration 2:39

Winnipeg police have found human remains at the Brady Road landfill during a search connected to the killing of Rebecca Contois. An autopsy will determine whether the remains found at the landfill are Contois, police said. The section of the landfill where police searched remains blocked off.

Support is available for anyone affected by details of this case. If you require support, you can contact Ka Ni Kanichihk's Medicine Bear Counselling, Support and Elder Services at 204-594-6500, ext. 102 or 104, (within Winnipeg)or 1-888-953-5264 (outside Winnipeg).

Support is also available via Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Liaison unit at1-800-442-0488or204-677-1648.