‘Bring Tanya home’: Calls grow to include Tanya Nepinak in Brady landfill search plan

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says the prospective search of the Brandy Road landfill for the remains of Ashlee Shingoose should include another Indigenous woman as well.

The AMC says the landfill should be searched for the remains of Tanya Nepinak, who went missing in September 2011 and whose body has never been found.

Nepinak’s family believes her body could be at Brady and has long been calling for a search of the city-owned landfill. Winnipeg police searched it briefly for one week in October 2011.

“We need to bring Tanya home,” said AMC Grand Chief Kyra Wilson in a news release. “The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has been advocating for a search of Brady Landfill, just as we pushed for the humanitarian search and recovery efforts at Prairie Green Landfill (PGL). We need all levels of government and the Winnipeg Police Service to come together to discuss a plan to bring Tanya Nepinak home. We need to meet with the families and make a plan”.

“The unresolved tragedy remains present in our family, and her children and future generations deserve closure and a path forward,” added Chief Derek Nepinak of Minegoziibe Anishinabe.

Nepinak, who comes from a family of Anishinabe leadership, went missing Sept. 13, 2011, when she left her home to go for pizza and never returned. Nine months later, Shawn Lamb was charged with second-degree murder.

The Manitoba government has promised a search of the Brady landfill after it was determined Shingoose’s remains were likely there. Shingoose, who was previously known as “Buffalo Woman,” was recently identified as the fourth victim of a Winnipeg serial killer.

Rebecca Contois’ remains were found in a garbage bin and at the Brady landfill in 2022. The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were found at the Prairie Green landfill earlier this year.

“The discovery of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran at the PGL and now Ashlee Shingoose at the Brady Road Landfill has reopened deep wounds for families seeking closure, including Tanya Nepinak’s family,” the AMC wrote.

“Every life is sacred, and every family deserves answers and that includes Tanya Nepinak’s family. We will continue to fight for justice and closure for them, and every other person we come to learn is being left in landfills in this province.

“We stand with the Nepinak family, and we will not stop until justice is served.”