WINNIPEG — Volunteers with Drag the Red have been searching the Red River for the past couple of years for missing and murdered indigenous people.
Now, thanks to the training from an expert Forensic Anthropologist, they have a new tool in their belt to help with the search.
A day of in class and field training about identifying remains, and effective searching will allow volunteers to know more clearly what they’re looking at when they pull up possible bones and remains from the Red River.
“If we didn’t have the training we would be ineffective. We’d be with our brooms moving brush away,” Said Bernadette Smith with Drag the Red.
Drag the Red volunteers started searching the river and its banks by boat and foot after the body of Tina Fontaine was pulled from the Red River in August of 2014. Spending weeks, months, hours and years hoping to find something to give peace to families with missing or murdered indigenous people.
READ MORE: Drag the Red finds what it believes are human teeth by Red River
Since Drag the Red first started they’re search efforts they have discovered items like teeth and hair but most of the time they’ve come from animals.
That hasn’t stopped the group from searching for clues that could lead to a break in missing persons investigations.
Along with adding training to their tool belt, the group has added a partnership and team up with Bear Clan Patrol volunteers. Sharing volunteers and training efforts.
“We’re now better prepared. The missing and murdered is a huge concern for all of us here,” said James Favel with Bear Clan Patrol.