Soldier's suicide propels a family's quest for answers

Shawna Rogers was a Lieutenant in the Canadian military, a career-minded soldier on the rise. Then, in October of 2012, she was found dead from a drug overdose alone in her apartment in Edmonton. She was 27 years old.

Today — almost three years later — her parents, Rick and Ellen Rogers, are still trying to sort out how things went so wrong, so quickly. And their fight for answers could change the way the Canadian military investigates the deaths of its soldiers.

I promised my daughter when we buried her I will get to the end. It might not be a great ending, but I will get there. And if the army thinks they can stop me, they're dreaming.- Rick Rogers

In February of this year we first broadcast "A Question for The Military," a documentary by The Current's Gord Westmacott and the CBC's Steve Wadhams.

Gord requested a comment from the Canadian Armed Forces about Shawna Rogers' case and how Boards of Inquiry are handled. No one was made available to speak on those issues. National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces did send a statement giving an overview of how Boards of Inquiry work and answers to frequently asked questions about them.

Rick and Ellen Rogers are still waiting for a date to be set for the Public Fatalities Inquest into Shawna's death.