Visits soar to Facebook page on missing Manitoba women
Since the death of Tina Fontaine, a Facebook page devoted to missing Manitoba women has soared from 600 views and shares to tens of thousands.
“Since then, I think both the police and the general public have definitely been talking about this issue more and raising more awareness about it," said Shelley Cook, the administrator for the Missing Manitoba Women Facebook page.
Cook posts media stories and police releases about the missing women to share the news as widely as possible in hopes the women can be located safely.
“The faster it’s out there and the more people are sharing, there's a very good likelihood that this person will be found or they will know that their picture is out there and they'll maybe just go home," Cook said.
She thinks the number of releases from the police has gone way up recently — and with that, so has the engagement from the general public on her page.
It spiked after the death of 15-year-old Fontaine, whose body was found in a bag pulled from the Red River near the Alexander Docks in Winnipeg on Aug. 17.
The teen had been in foster care at the time she disappeared and was reported missing Aug. 9.
Police are treating her death as a homicide. No arrests have been announced to date.