Body found in stream identified as missing Winnipeg girl, 17

The body found in a stream just outside Winnipeg this week has been identified as a 17-year-old girl who had gone missing on previous occasions.

Cherisse Houle's body was found on Wednesday by construction workers levelling trenches near the riverbank in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, about 16 kilometres west of Winnipeg. She was discovered at about 3 p.m., according to the RCMP.

An autopsy was conducted on Thursday in Winnipeg. However, the cause of death remains undetermined, according to the RCMP, which has been investigating the site where Houle's body was located.

Houle, from Winnipeg, was one of four aboriginal teens and women who were the subject of a news release issued in late May by the Winnipeg Police Service and Child Find Manitoba. The missing people were highlighted as part of National Missing Children's Day.

Not long after that, Houle returned home but then went missing once again. She was last reported missing to the police on June 26.

Sources told CBC News that Houle was a chronic runaway and a known sex trade worker who was in the care of the provincial Child and Family Services agency.

Bernadette Smith, whose sister, Claudette Osborne, has been missing since last July, said Manitoba needs a specific police task force for missing and murdered women. The province has earmarked $2.4 million for programs to combat sexual exploitation, but Smith is lobbying for a dedicated task force like that in Edmonton.

That city's Project KARE has a mandate to fully investigate all cases involving missing or murdered high-risk persons like sex trade workers.

"This [Houle] case, unfortunately, is going to push us even further to talk to the mayor of our city and the police because it is their duty to protect the citizens of our city. Women are going missing and there's not enough being done," Smith said.

Anyone with information regarding Houle's whereabouts on or after June 26 is asked to contact the Headingley RCMP detachment at 1-204-888-0358 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.