'A whole life ahead of her': Family of Hamilton woman wait for answers 9 months after death

Caitlyn Bates wakes up each morning next to the picture of her sister, Shannon MacDougall, beside her bed.

MacDougall's dark brown eyes, soft features and bright, wide smile stare back at Bates.

And each day, Bates said, she relives what happened nine months ago.

"I wake up every day and I ask myself, 'Why? Why her? What happened?' " Bates said.

Robin Matthews-Osmond, a spokesperson for Brantford Police Service, said it was March 11 when officers visited MacDougall's home on Mintern Avenue after someone reported they hadn't seen or heard from her. 

Police found MacDougall dead.

Matthews-Osmond said investigators hadn't confirmed the cause of death at the time and were working with the coroner's office and forensics.

LISTEN | Caitlyn Bates speak about Shannon MacDougall

Police reveal homicide investigation months later

"At the beginning, they told family they suspected an overdose because she has a known drug problem in her past and … I knew that wasn't the case," Bates said.

"I just knew from the details we got at the funeral home about the way she looked that she didn't just overdose. And then the autopsy came back that she bled to death. And you don't bleed to death from an overdose."

Bates said shortly after, police told the family it was being investigated as a homicide — but they couldn't tell anyone.

"I couldn't even talk about it until now, and now that's all I want to do. Just get answers," she said.

Matthews-Osmond said the service has been investigating the case as a homicide for months, but couldn't reveal what prompted that to avoid "damaging" the active investigation.

"As a result of the manner in which the investigation and information came to the attention of the police, a public advisory was not issued at the time of death," Matthews-Osmond said.

"Police believe this was not a random incident and felt there was no ongoing threat to public safety … [there's a] dedicated a team of officers to this investigation who are working diligently to solve this case and provide closure for Shannon's grieving family."

The police chief was unavailable for an interview.

Sister fears suspect could be 'long gone'

Bates said she knows police never forgot about her 37-year-old sister, who was born in Hamilton. And she acknowledges that without their help, she may never figure out why her sister died.

But she also wishes more was done sooner.

"I understand they had to keep it kind of a secret until they knew all the details, but I just felt as a grieving sister that if the word got out there, we would know something sooner because now, whoever did this, they could be long gone," she said.

Bates said if she ever came face-to-face with someone who caused her sister's death, she would struggle to control herself.

"I'd ask them 'How could you do that? Regardless of the reason, how could you take away somebody from their family? Their children?' As much as I could say these words, I feel like if I saw them, it would just be me wanting to put my hands around their neck," she said.

"You took my sister from me. For whatever reason, you took her and I'm never going to have her back. I'm never going to have her at my wedding. My little boy is two and he doesn't know who she is, and he never will, all because of this person. Her whole life. She was 37-years-old. You're telling me that was the end of it? No, she had a whole life ahead of her."

Two kids and one 'really contagious laugh'

MacDougall was born in Hamilton but spent most of her life in Brantford, Bates said. While her married name was MacDougall, her family knew her as Shannon Burnside.

She said MacDougall worked as a nurse for more than a decade, most of which was spent at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. She also had a son and daughter that she would "do anything for."

"She had an 18-year-old daughter, who, they're so similar it isn't even funny. They butt heads sometimes, but overall, that was her girl that she was very proud of," Bates said.

"She had a 14-year-old son. They weren't as close, as it was a little bit hard for her to get close to her boy, but she would spend time with him as well."

Bates said her fondest memories with her sister were cruising around town to pick up coffees.

"We'd be driving down the street, listening to the radio, laughing along, just being sisters," she remembers.

"She has one of those really contagious laughs, where she could just get you going by laughing. Even if what she said wasn't really funny, she'd just start laughing and get this big grin on her face and you'd just start laughing too."

Bates said she and her mother both cry each day and hope police can find MacDougall's killer.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to live with myself if they don't find who is responsible. It will always stick with me not knowing who took my sister's life," she said.

"I can't just let it go, not allowing these people to get what they deserve. They need to be behind bars and justice needs to be served.