Winnipeg police providing update Wednesday on ‘Buffalo Woman’ investigation as calls grow to keep searching landfill

Winnipeg police are scheduled to provide an update on the investigation regarding the final victim of a convicted serial killer.

The remains of “Buffalo Woman,” an unidentified Indigenous woman also known as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, have not been found.

The Winnipeg Police Service will hold a press conference Wednesday at 1 p.m. to share information on the investigation.

“Buffalo Woman,” Rebecca Contois, Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris were the victims of Winnipeg serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, who was convicted of first-degree murder in their slayings.

Contois’ partial remains were found in a dumpster and at the Brady landfill, while those of Myran and Harris were found at the Prairie Green landfill.

The Winnipeg police media availability comes as the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) joins calls from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) to keep searching Prairie Green to find Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe.

“People that have left this world, are still in our view, family,” said David Chartrand, president of the MMF and the national government of the Red River Métis. “Bringing them home is going to be something I think will have a long-lasting impact. But clearly looking at others that could be in there, we’re already there. We’re already in the landfill, we might as well continue.

“You treat those that leave this world with the utmost respect and dignity, and you make sure that you continue to impress upon your family that their body may be gone but their spirit is still here.

“We pay a lot of attention to that because we believe in the Afterworld. At the same time, we believe in respect and the journey of the family needs to come home. And that’s something that people should never give up on.”

AMC Grand Chief Kyra Wilson previously told media a continued landfill search shows no one will be left behind.

“I think Kyra is on the right track,” Chartrand said. “I think she’s gotta push hard and I will support her if she needs my support. I think we need to do what’s just. In our culture, ’cause our loved ones leave us, doesn’t mean they left us.”

Chartrand says how quickly the remains of Myran and Harris were found means searching for more remains is possible – and it’s all because of the women’s families.

“They would not give up on the chance to go search the landfill,” he said. “I think without their vigor, without their persistence, without their fight, this probably would not have happened.

“They did it so quickly. I was quite surprised given the message we received as Manitobans from the previous government that based on the depth and the timing, that it would be too far down already if there was any chance.”

Added Manitoba Minister of Families Nahanni Fontaine: “We’re so grateful that Marcedes and Morgan were found and that the family has the opportunity to bring them home and to have a burial. A funeral. We’re very, very grateful for that. I think that all Manitobans can agree that that was the right decision.”

But Chartrand says he doesn’t want to stop at the landfill; he wants all loved ones to come home, whether they’re in a graveyard or buried in unmarked graves.

“We are raised that way and always have made it a priority. We’re still, for example right now, fighting with the owner of Lemay Forest on potential children being buried on that site.

“We’re also looking at Sheridan, for example, northern Manitoba.

“It’s a way we’re trying to do our part,” the MMF president added. “So our cabinet decided to put $1 million aside to assist on trying to bring those loved ones home no matter where they are. They all gotta come home. If not, that spirit is unsettled and so is the family, so we need to find a way to find peace.”