Missing & Murdered: 7 facts about northern Ontario cases

CBC News | Posted: April 9, 2015 10:00 AM | Last Updated: April 9, 2015

Six of 20 killings of indigenous women from northern Ontario occurred in Thunder Bay

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Caption: CBC tells the stories of 230 women who have gone missing or have been found murdered, including interviews with 110 families. Twenty-five of the cases involve women from northern Ontario. (CBC)

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CBC News spent months checking into reports of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada and trying to locate family members.

Image | Nicolle Hands

Caption: Nicolle Hands, 31, is one of three women from Lac Seul First Nation whose murder is unsolved. She was found stabbed in a Winnipeg apartment in 2003 and later died in hospital.

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Through checks with police, families, community leaders, organizations and public sources, CBC News came up with about 230 confirmed cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. More than 110 families have been interviewed about the cases so far.

Those interviews allowed CBC to compile data on many of the cases, including the community each woman is from, and where she was slain or went missing. An analysis of that data shows 25 of the cases involve indigenous women from northern Ontario.

Here are 7 facts about the northern Ontario cases:

1. Twenty of the women are dead, 5 are missing. Among the dead is Jamie McGuire, whose body was found in a rural area outside Winnipeg in 1994. Her daughter was only two years old at the time. CBC News spoke to Dakota McGuire about what it's like to grow up in the shadow of her mother's murder.
Media Audio | Superior Morning : Jamie McGuire - #MMIW
Caption: ...Thunder Bay's Jamie McGuire was killed nearly 20 years ago, when her daughter was just a toddler. Dakota McGuire talks about what it's like to grow up amidst the rumours of who your mother was, and why she was murdered
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2. Only two of the 20 women, Evaline Cameron of Wabaseemoong and Judy Quill of Pikangikum died in their home communities.
3. Six of the 20 deaths occurred in Thunder Bay, three in Winnipeg, two in Timmins and two out of province — Edna Bernard of Whitefish Lake First Nation was murdered in Leduc Alberta and Jane Sutherland of Moose Cree First Nation was killed in Hull, Quebec
4. Five of the 20 deaths are unsolved murders of teenagers. The youngest was Mae Morton of Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinabek (Rocky Bay First Nation) who may have been as young as 15 when her body was find outside Beardmore, Ont.
5. The most recent case is the 2009 unsolved murder of Judy Quill from Pikangikum First Nation. The oldest case is that of Cecilia Payash who was last seen in Red Lake in 1957.
6. Three First Nations, all in northwestern Ontario, have multiple cases of missing or murdered women. Three of the murdered women are from Lac Seul First Nation, two are from Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinabek and two are from Wabaseemoong First Nation.
7. Two of the 20 northern Ontario deaths are not considered murders by police. The OPP say the death of Rena Fox in Thunder Bay is "suspicious" but the manner of her death is "undetermined". Toronto Police closed the case of Batchawana First Nation's Deborah Ann Sloss two days after she was found dead in Toronto, declaring it a sudden death. Family members believe she was killed.

Visit our interactive data base of 230 unsolved cases of missing and murdered indigenous women to find out more about these women and others.

Missing & Murdered: 7 facts about northern Ontario cases

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