Human remains found at Winnipeg's Brady landfill identified as Rebecca Contois
Police had conducted extensive search earlier this month
WARNING: This article contains disturbing details.
The human remains found at the Brady Road landfill by Winnipeg police last week have been identified as those of Rebecca Contois, police said Tuesday afternoon.
The 24-year-old woman's family has been notified, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release.
Contois, who had a daughter, was a member of Crane River First Nation and grew up in Winnipeg.
Last month, around 100 people, including members of Contois's family, gathered for a vigil in the North Kildonan back lane where her partial remains were discovered in a garbage bin on May 16.
Police believed some of her remains may have been taken to the landfill during a residential pickup, and conducted a search earlier this month.
The search involved an area the size of three or four football fields, and was conducted by officers fitted with respirators, methane detection equipment and protective gear.
Jeremy Anthony Micheal Skibicki, 35, has been charged with first-degree murder in Contois's death.
After Skibicki was arrested and charged in May, police said they believed there could be more victims, but as of last week none had been identified.
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.