Leaked report on searching landfill for women's remains shares how 60,000 tonnes of material could be examined

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

A search through as much as roughly 60,000 tonnes of materials for the remains of two First Nations women at a landfill near Winnipeg could involve moving thousands of truckloads of garbage, hiring dozens of staff to sift through it on a conveyor belt and setting up a temperature-controlled storage unit to secure any possible remains found, a leaked report says.

The 55-page report was posted online by a relative of Morgan Harris — one of two women whose remains police believe are at the Prairie Green landfill — more than a month after the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs held a news conference sharing the broad strokes of the document. 

The report was prepared by a committee that studied whether it would be feasible to search for the women's remains.

It outlines a plan to hire more than 40 staff, including managers, elders and knowledge keepers, a forensic anthropologist and as many as 28 technicians to conduct the search for Harris and Marcedes Myran, who police said late last year they believe were among four victims of an alleged serial killer.

Myran's grandmother, Donna Bartlett, said she was never given a reason why the report couldn't be released in the first place. And over a month after its findings were shared with the public, she said she's hurt and angry that there's still been no action.

"Nothing is happening — nothing," Bartlett said. "Nobody's given me an update."

Jeremy Skibicki is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 39-year-old Harris, 26-year-old Myran, 24-year-old Rebecca Contois and a fourth unidentified woman, whom community members have named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

Contois's partial remains were found last year in Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill. Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe's remains have not been found.

Skibicki's trial is scheduled to begin in April 2024.

Thousands of truckloads

At its update last month, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said the feasibility study committee decided using a conveyor belt to look through debris would be the best option for the search.

The full report sheds more light on the details of that plan, including that the conveyor belt would be housed inside a roughly 23,000-square-foot structure built at the landfill site, which would ensure efforts can continue in any weather.

Search technicians would work in groups of about 10 to sift through the material as it moves down the line, the report says.

The specific section of the landfill that would be searched holds 61,200 tonnes of materials, which could translate to anywhere between 2,880 and 7,200 loads, depending on which kind of truck is used.

While it's possible not all that material will end up needing to be searched, "it is best to plan to search all of it," the report says. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said earlier this year it was told no additional garbage was deposited in that section of the landfill since June 2022.

The search setup would also involve a screening system to separate out different materials as well as multiple trailers, including one that would act as a temperature-controlled storage unit to hold any possible remains found.

The structures would need access to electricity, water and high-bandwidth internet, the report says.

Search technicians and staff on site would all be trained in how to use personal protective equipment, how to decontaminate when they leave the search facility and what to do in an emergency.

Average daily staff compensation would range from $760 for administrative support, to $1,200 for a forensic anthropologist, to $1,800 for positions including logistics, elders and search technicians, to as much as $2,400 for certain managers and $3,600 for the project director, the report says.

Months of preparations

Preparations for the search would take about six months: roughly one month of training and setting up the conveyor system; two months of finding management and applying for various permissions and approvals; and three months of building, installing and hiring, a potential timeline in the report says. 

The search itself is expected to take up to three years, based on estimates that crews will sift through as much as 97.5 tonnes of materials every day.

But it's still unclear whether governments will provide financial support to make it happen.

A spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said his office is reviewing both the feasibility study for a potential search of the Prairie Green landfill and a separate proposal to search Winnipeg's Brady Road landfill for remains.

Miller has been in contact with the women's families and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the spokesperson said in an email, and his office "will provide more comments when it is appropriate to do so, after our review."

A Manitoba government spokesperson said the province has also been in communication with the families and leadership, "and will be in a position to provide an update soon." Neither spokesperson would comment on the leak of the report.

Bartlett said now that the feasibility study is done, she feels like different levels of government keep passing the buck to each other instead of moving forward with a potential search.

"We jumped through their hoops. Now they gotta do what they said they're going to do," she said.

"It's getting [me] tired and getting me angry that we have to meet and say the same thing over and over again and nothing ever gets done anyways."

DNA analysis likely needed for 'unique' situation

The report notes the estimated cost for the search — which the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said could be anywhere from roughly $80 million to $180 million — does not account for potential costs associated with microscopy and DNA sampling and testing. 

"It is difficult to predict how many samples would need to be processed in such a way," the report says, recommending about $2.5 million be budgeted to potentially process up to 1,000 bone samples to determine whether they're human or animal.

The report also notes that while forensic anthropologists are trained to help identify remains by determining their age, sex, ancestry and stature, the similarities between the two women they're looking for could make that task difficult.

"This situation is unique, where we know that a search could recover the remains of both Marcedes and Morgan. Marcedes and Morgan are very similar in that they are both First Nation females between the ages of 25-45 and around 5 feet tall," it says.

"Based on skeletal characteristics, it would not likely be possible to differentiate each bone recovered to either Morgan or Marcedes as they would appear quite similar. It may be possible to differentiate them based on age, but that requires recovering specific bones."

That means it's possible that all remains found in a search would require DNA analysis, which could take a considerable amount of time since each sample could take months to process, the report says.

The report recommends any potential costs associated with DNA analysis of human remains be assumed by the Winnipeg Police Service. Police have not responded to a request for comment on that recommendation.

It also summarizes the various states the women's remains could be found in, and outlines the challenges associated with each of those possibilities.

As well, the report provides more information about the 1,500 tonnes of animal remains that police previously said had been deposited after the load believed to contain the women's remains — information which the report says raised concerns about how challenging it might be to identify human remains. 

Those 1,500 tonnes are rendered pig remains from a processing plant, and "are more consistent with a thick sludge," the report says. While that substance would create a potential biohazard concern, it wouldn't add to the volume of bones that would have to be reviewed.

Cadaver dogs, baggage scanners considered

While the subcommittee examined using cadaver dogs for the search, that option was deemed too dangerous, since the dogs can't wear respirators like people. 

It would also be too slow, since the animals would need to be rotated out so often that using just dogs to search "would deplete almost the entire group of North American cadaver dog search teams," the report says.

That option should only be used to complement the conveyor belt method, if it's used at all, it says.

It also notes the possibility of using other technology, like the baggage scanners seen in airports, to augment the search by scanning any bags found in the landfill instead of working to open them. 

"While it is possible to identify bone in such a system, it is possible that this could drastically increase the time required to process the material," the report says.

For Bartlett's family, waiting so long for answers on whether there will be a search for her granddaughter's remains is taking a toll.

"Sure, we had a funeral. But she wasn't there," she said. "I need her home. We need to put an end to this. We need closure."

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 at 1-800-442-0488 or 204-677-1648.

People outside Manitoba can call 1-844-413-6649, an independent, national, toll-free support call line that provides emotional assistance.