Human remains found north of Winnipeg

Human remains have been found on a property north of Winnipeg, say RCMP.

Officers from the Stonewall detachment were called around 8:45 a.m. Thursday to a house off Highway 7 in the rural municipality of Rockwood, said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Paul Manaigre.

A friend of the person living there went to check on them the prior evening but couldn't find them. They found the body in an area outside the home when they went back the next morning, Manaigre said.

The death is believed to have occurred within the last month, he said.

An autopsy has yet to confirm the cause of death, but Manaigre said it does not appear to be from natural causes and is being treated as suspicious.

"[The officers] had some concerns from what they observed," he said.

No information has been provided by police on whether the remains belong to an adult or child, but Manaigre did say the person who lived at the residence was a man.

"Until we can confirm that that was who we found, I can't confirm at this time who it is," he said.

It's the second incident of human remains being found in a rural location in the province in the past five months.

The body of Xavia Skye Lynn Butler were discovered in a barn off Highway 6 in the rural municipality of Grahamdale in June.

The toddler, from Pinaymootang First Nation, would have been one or two years old at the time of her death, police said.

The child had been living with her biological family at a home neighbouring the barn.

Police are still investigating that case and asking anyone who may have seen Xavia after March 2022 — when she was taken from the care of a relative — to come forward.

Anyone with information or photos to share is asked to call the RCMP's major crime services tip line at 431-489-8112.