Search for remains of Ashlee Shingoose begins at Winnipeg’s Brady Road landfill

Searchers began combing through the first truckload of material at a Winnipeg landfill on Monday morning in hopes of finding the remains of a woman killed by a convicted serial killer more than three years ago.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew confirmed the official search of Brady Road landfill for the remains of Ashlee Shingoose began after a First Nations ceremony took place with the woman’s family.

“I was there this morning to smoke the pipe with her parents, Albert and Theresa, as well as her sister…who is working on the search,” Kinew told reporters at an unrelated event later in the day.

“It’s an important bond that these parents have with their child that they’re trying to bring home in a very tragic situation as a result of a very terrible crime. The role that I have as a premier is to try and show the understanding and compassion that we as a province have for them as they go through this.

“I told her parents, ‘I hope you feel the value and respect and dignity we hold for your daughter, and I hope we can bring her home — and soon.'”

Months after the province launched a preliminary search at Brady Road landfill, the first truck carrying debris was transferred to a search facility at the site where workers will comb through it to locate Shingoose’s remains, said Kinew.

The province began a “test phase” of a search at the landfill in August. It included excavating an area to determine what the search process would look like, as well as conducting ground-penetrating radar tests to narrow down a search location.

Jeremy Skibicki’s trial heard he targeted the women at Winnipeg homeless shelters and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins.

Skibicki admitted to the slayings but argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental illness. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the four killings and sentenced last year to life in prison.

At the time of the trial, Shingoose had not been identified and was referred to in court as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, a name given to her by Indigenous grassroots community members.

Months later, police announced that interviews with Skibicki after the trial, along with DNA evidence, led them to identify the unknown victim as Shingoose. They said they believed her body was taken to the landfill.

Police first became aware of Skibicki’s crimes after the remains of Rebecca Contois were discovered in a garbage bin in May 2022. More of her remains were found at the same landfill.

Lessons learned from Prairie Green

Kinew committed to searching the site for Shingoose after a similar dig at a different landfill for the two other victims.

The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were discovered at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg. The search there concluded in the summer.

“Three years ago, we as Manitobans were just starting to enter the search-the-landfill conversation. One year ago, we were starting the search at Prairie Green, which was ultimately successful in bringing home Marcedes and Morgan. And now, today, we have begun the search in the most intense phase for Ashlee Shingoose, which I hope is successful,” said Kinew.

The premier said the search facility erected at Prairie Green has been transported to Brady Road, with the dig looking quite similar at the new landfill. A space has been designated at the city-run Brady Road for the family to gather.

“This is the same process that brought Morgan and Marcedes home and now will hopefully bring Ashlee home, we’ve just done some tweaks and tailoring of what that process looks like given the Brady site,” Kinew explained.

Separate search for Tanya Nepinak

A separate search for another woman believed to be at Brady Road could begin after Shingoose is located, said Kinew. Tanya Nepinak was last seen in Winnipeg in September 2011 and police believe her body was dumped in a garbage bin and taken to that landfill.

“Hopefully we will be able to bring Ashlee home and do this effort, and from there mount a search for Tanya Nepinak,” the Manitoba premier said. “But because the time and location are different, the search for Tanya will look different than the search for Ashlee did today when we start.”

First Nations advocacy group Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said it stands with Shingoose and Nepinak’s family.

“Today we honour Ashlee and Tanya. We begin the search they said was impossible. For too long, our women have been dismissed, ignored, and treated as if their lives did not matter. That ends here. This search is about dignity. It is about truth. It is about bringing them home,” Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said in a release.

“Our families have carried heartbreak every single day. Now they can carry hope. We will walk beside them until their loved ones are brought home, and we will continue to demand safety, justice and accountability for every First Nation person in this province.”

Kinew said the province has budgeted for a year-long search, and would reassess tactics at the six-month mark.

A total of $40 million between the provincial and federal governments was earmarked for the Prairie Green search. It came in under budget at $18 million with another $2 million expected to decommission the site, Kinew said in August.

He said on Monday that the remaining balance would be put toward the Brady Road dig.

–With files from Mitchell Ringos