More than two months after a Saskatchewan woman was last seen in Edmonton, police now say her vehicle was tracked from the Prairies to the Pacific and back — but Natanis Merasty is nowhere to be found.
“Natanis is very soft-spoken. She’s shy, she is loving, caring,” said her aunt and godmother Marcella Merasty at an Edmonton Police Service news conference on Friday
“We want her home. She is loved. She did not deserve this.”
Where the 24-year-old is and whether she is alive remains a mystery.
“This missing person investigation stretches across three provinces. It speaks to the scale of work that’s ongoing, and the complexity of this case,” said EPS major crimes detective Lisa Rio.
Last month, police said Merasty was from La Ronge, Sask., but on Friday her family said she’s from the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, which surrounds Prince Albert in northern Saskatchewan.
“The most important thing is that we have a lot of hope that she’s still alive, absolutely,” said her uncle, Victor Michel. “We are hurt as a family, obviously, and we’re just seeking the public’s help.
“But mainly we are seeking our girl, and we want her home, and we have hope that she’s still alive.”
Merasty was in Edmonton 10 weeks ago to visit friends. Police said she came to the city with some other friends or acquaintances, but did not say who or how they knew Merasty.
She was last seen overnight on May 5, when she left the Continental Inn on 166 Street and Stony Plain Road in the west end around 1:30 a.m.
About an hour and a half later, she went into a 7-11 a few blocks away on 156 Street and 107 Avenue.
That’s the last time Merasty was captured on surveillance camera video, Edmonton police said.
However, her vehicle continued to be spotted as it travelled through central Alberta and then west to Vancouver Island, and back again east into northern Saskatchewan.
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On May 9, Merasty was reported missing by her family to RCMP in Saskatchewan after they hadn’t heard from her in four days.
At the time, RCMP thought Merasty could be in Calgary or Leduc in Alberta, or Revelstoke in B.C.
Edmonton police took over the investigation on May 22.
Merasty drives a 2007 black Hyundai Tucson with Saskatchewan plates, which was found 10 days after she vanished back in Saskatchewan with a new, shoddy paint job.
“It was silver, spray-painted, maybe,” said Rio. “The timeframe — we know that on the 12th it was black. We know that on the 15th, it was silver. For me to say it was spray painted, it’s just an assumption, but it didn’t look an extremely clear and neat job.”
She has long, brown hair, brown eyes and is described as having an average build.
Police said she has multiple tattoos, including a cross on her forearm, a flower on the top of her right hand, and letters on her fingers. She was last seen wearing black clothing and white shoes.
“While we continue to work with our counterparts in each jurisdiction, we ask for the public’s help,” Rio said.
“It is unlike Natanis to not be in contact with her family for long periods of time. So, we consider this disappearance suspicious.”
People go missing all the time, but Edmonton police said this case stands out.
“The longer time gaps and spans between our last point of communication with family or friends, with no contact, no sightings, no information — it becomes increasingly more suspicious and more concerning,” Rio said.
Rio said police have spoken to a number of individuals and what she waid were people of interest, but no arrests have been made.
Police are now releasing a timeline of when she was last spotted, along with where her vehicle has been seen in the weeks since in Alberta, B.C. and back in Saskatchewan.
May 5, 2025
- Natanis is captured on CCTV at the Continental Inn at 166 Street and Stony Plain Road in Edmonton
- She was observed driving away in her 2007 black, Hyundai Tucson at 1:22 a.m.
- Her vehicle returns to the hotel around 1:30 a.m. and leaves at 2:37 a.m.
- Natanis is captured on CCTV at the 7-Eleven on 156 Street and 107 Avenue and leaves at 2:55 a.m.
- Her vehicle travels through the Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Buck Lake, Nordegg and Lake Louise areas
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May 6, 2025 – The vehicle travels through British Columbia
May 7, 2025 – The vehicle travels by ferry to Nanaimo, B.C.
May 10, 2025 – The vehicle returns to the Edmonton area
May 12, 2025 – The vehicle is observed west of Lloydminster
May 15, 2025 – Natanis’ vehicle is found abandoned and repainted on the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.
Anyone with information about Natanis’ whereabouts is asked to contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone.
Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.
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