22 cases added to CBC's missing and murdered indigenous women database

CBC's investigation into unsolved cases of missing and murdered indigenous women has learned of 22 more deaths and disappearances across Canada, including seven that occurred this year. 

CBC News will tweet the names and cases of the more than 250 missing women and girls in its investigation over the next  24 hours, to mark the announcement today of the much-anticipated national inquiry by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.

For the past year, CBC News has been investigating these unsolved cases, some of which back as far as 1951.

• Follow @CBCNews on Twitter or by using #MMIW, and read more at cbc.ca/aboriginal
• CBC Special Report: Missing and Murdered - Unsolved cases of indigenous women and girls
• MMIW: 1st phase of national public inquiry outlined today

For example, for years Barb Desjarlais believed her missing mother Audrey was the Jane Doe found in the Red River in Winnipeg in 2012.

A CBC News investigation prompted Winnipeg Police to conduct DNA testing and, in June, the remains were positively identified. Police say there is now an "open investigation" into the death of Audrey Desjarlais, 52.

In another new addition, Krystal Andrews, a 23-year-old mother of two from Manitoba's God's Lake First Nation was killed last month, and RCMP are calling her death suspicious.

She is the second woman to be killed in the remote community in the past three years — 15-year-old Leah Anderson was murdered in 2013. Her case also remains unsolved.

More than 110 families have been interviewed by CBC News about the cases so far. About 70 per cent of family members expressed the desire for a national inquiry into the issue.

Dawn Harvard is president of the Native Women's Association of Canada. She says families of missing and murdered indigenous women have high expectations of a national inquiry.

"I know a lot of the families have an expectation that this inquiry will help with some of those unsolved cases that are ongoing."

Harvard says families also hope an inquiry will result in direct action to prevent further cases.

"It's not only about addressing outstanding cases ... it's also about taking action, having a commitment from those leaders once they hear to make a difference, to change the situation, to address the root causes so that it doesn't happen to someone else's family."

CBC News continues its investigation into missing and murdered indigenous women. Anyone with information about these cases, as well as family members who have not been interviewed, please email us at MMIW@cbc.ca.