WINNIPEG — It’s been nearly a year since 15-year-old Tina Fontaine’s body was pulled from the Red River; police are still searching for the killer in that case.
While police continue to investigate Fontaine’s murder, another Manitoba family continues to search for answers into the death of their loved one.
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15-year-old Leah Anderson’s body was found on the remote First Nation of God’s Lake Narrows in January 2013.
Anderson left her aunt’s house on Jan. 4, and said she was going skating with friends at the local rink. Her body was found two days later.
It was originally believed wild dogs or a wolf had mauled the young girl to death. However, RCMP eventually ruled it a homicide.
Much like Fontaine’s case, no one has been arrested for her death.
“We’ve just been wondering all the time… phoning the police and its always the same thing,” said the teen’s aunt, Josie Stevenson. “There is never any new information. We are left in the dark.”
Anderson’s family and friends are calling for justice in the teen’s case.
A group of roughly 40 people is walking from Thompson to Winnipeg to push for action.
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“As we got closer to Winnipeg we started feeling emotional stress,” said Anderson’s uncle, Justin Stevenson. “In that Leah is not here. She’s not going to be brought back, but her memory will live on.”
The walk started on Monday morning and they are expected to arrive in the city by Friday afternoon.
The group is hoping to renew a call for an inquiry into the more than 1,200 missing and murdered indigenous women across the country.
“We definitely want an inquiry,” said Justin Stevenson. “This has gone on for too long.”
Another recent murder on a remote First Nations in Manitoba hit Anderson’s family as a stark reminder of the young girl’s death.
In May, 11-year-old Teresa Robinson was found dead on the remote First Nation of Garden Hill.
Robinson disappeared after she left a birthday party on the First Nation on May 5. Her body was found in a wooded area a few days later.
Similarly to Anderson’s case, it was originally reported by First Nations officials that Robinson appeared to have been mauled by an animal, possibly a black bear.
It took a number of days before police confirmed that was not the case and deemed her death a homicide.
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