Women comb riverbank for clues in missing, murdered women cases

A group of five women is finding syringes, used condoms and backpacks as they comb the banks of the Red River for traces of missing and murdered women and at-risk girls.

The group is picking up items left behind in small clusters of tents and huts nestled in the trees along the riverbank in Winnipeg.

The women are looking for evidence in cases of missing and murdered women, but they are acting independently of Drag the Red, which is casting lines in the river and searching along the shore.

"When you see garbage bags that are bumpy or anything like these ... you look in it see what's in it," said Carla Bruyere, who took part in the search on Wednesday, her 48th birthday.

Bruyere found metal spoons and syringes, possibly for shooting up drugs, as well as standout items such as an animal-print bra.

The group has also found a girl's suitcase containing "a lot of provocative clothing," she said.

Bruyere — a cousin of Fonessa Bruyere, 17, whose body was found in a field on the outskirts of Winnipeg in 2007 — said she fears that young girls who are at risk of being exploited are camping along the river.

"There are underage kids here, and those are the ones that are the most vulnerable," she said.

"You've seen the needles and the spoons … they can be introduced to anything at that vulnerable point."