In the corner of Rayden Seela’s room are items to remind him of his brother, Steven.
“He had a lot of love to give, he had a huge heart,” Rayden told Global News. “He was always with family, he was always with friends and people he just loved being around with.”
“In our culture we have something called the Seven Sacred Teachings and a turtle represents truth, so I bought this specifically for my brother,” Rayden said, holding up a necklace with a small turtle ornament on it.
The truth is something the Seela family is still searching for a year and a half after Steven was killed in Thompson, Man. The case remains unsolved.
Rayden, who now lives in Winnipeg, says the loss of his brother brings a range of emotions.
“He was still in (Thompson) so I didn’t see him a lot or talk to him a lot, and that left me with a lot of regret,” Rayden said, adding that when he did visit Thompson he was always met with a smile by Steven.
“He would just want to talk to me and ask me how school was and he always, always offered me a beer to drink,” he said.
“And this is where it goes back to I have a lot of regret. I just felt like I couldn’t be bothered at the time. I let our differences just get in the way in our relationship.
“But that still didn’t stop him from being a good brother to me. He saw all my successes, all my achievements, and he just reached out and told me how proud he was of all the things that I was doing.”
Steven was last seen on Nov. 24, 2024. His mother reported him missing three days later, according to RCMP. Rayden says he started receiving frantic messages from family members, wondering if he had heard from Steven or knew where he was.
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“I start getting anxiety a little bit,” Rayden said. “And then I look and my phone and I see my sister text me being like, ‘Steven’s dead. He’s murdered.’
“It felt kind of numbing for a while. Again, I was so far away, all of this was happening in Thompson. It didn’t feel real until I went home. And seeing my dad and my mom and my sisters, it just made it real, real quick.”
The investigation
On Nov. 28, 2024, Steven’s lifeless body was found outside a trailer home in a trailer court on Pipe Road in Thompson. RCMP say he had been shot.
“Leading up to this, it seems like it was a fairly regular day for Steven. So that complicates things more in a sense,” Manitoba RCMP Cpl. Gennifer Furkalo said.
Cpl. Furkalo said RCMP were able to trace Steven’s steps on Nov. 24, and determined he had left his girlfriend’s home on Princeton Drive in Thompson around 1:45 p.m.
“He began a trek across Thompson where he ended up at a trailer on Pipe Road, the same trailer he was killed in and the same trailer he was ultimately recovered from on Nov. 28, 2024,” Cpl Furkalo said.
“Now as far as exactly what happened in that trailer, we do believe he was in there and we do believe he was partying, hanging out with friends.”
911 operators also received a call on Nov. 24, reporting a shooting. The call suddenly dropped, but police were able to trace it back to the same trailer court where Steven’s body was found. Police say it’s unknown who made the call.
RCMP have also been making renewed efforts to find information from the public. Officers were canvassing several residences in Thompson last month, speaking to over 110 residents.
They also released images of two trucks believed to be in the area of Pipe Road at the time of Steven’s death. Police believe the people in the trucks have information that could help them in their investigation.
Investigators have also been unable to recover the firearm that was used to kill Steven, and are looking for tips from the public on the possible firearm or any other information that could assist in their investigation.
“Time isn’t in our favour, generally speaking,” Cpl. Furkalo said, noting RCMP are hoping to keep the case top of mind for the public.
“It gets harder to keep it at the forefront of people’s thoughts — the investigation, per se — when it happened a year and a half ago now.”
The impact of the unknown
Rayden says not knowing exactly what happened to his brother and who is responsible makes it difficult to return to Thompson.
“In the back of my head I’m like, someone here knows something or knows someone who would know something,” he said.
“I hate just walking past someone and not knowing if they’re the one that did it or they know somebody who does.”
While the case is unsolved, Rayden has full confidence his brother will get justice.
“I know he will. I know that the day will come when they find the person that actually did this,” Rayden said.
“And I just know one day I will face (them), and I will look (them) right in the eye and I will be able to tell him exactly how I feel.”
If you have any information on the homicide of Steven Seela, you’re asked to contact the Manitoba RCMP tip line at 431-489-8106.
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