Nova Scotia First Nation offers $100K reward for information on death of young mother

A Nova Scotia First Nation is offering a $100,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the death of a young mother in the community nearly a month ago.

The We’koqma’q First Nation is offering the reward for information related to the death of Cassidy Bernard, a 22-year-old mother of two, whose death was reported to police on Oct. 24.

Chief Rod Googoo says the decision to offer the reward was because they felt the need to act and do something.

READ MORE: RCMP continue to investigate suspicious death on Waycobah First Nation

Googoo says that someone knows something about what happened to Cassidy and that they want someone to come forward and give RCMP the information they need to solve the case.

Nova Scotia RCMP has not identified Bernard as the deceased but Googoo has identified her as the woman who was found non-responsive at her home on Highway 105 just before 11 a.m., on Oct. 24.

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Two infants were also in the home at the time but were not harmed. Nova Scotia RCMP say the infants are currently being cared for by family.

The RCMP have not declared the death to be a homicide and told Global News on Tuesday that the Medical Examiner’s Service is continuing to investigate the circumstances of the death and has not completed its investigation.

“The RCMP is appreciative of the cooperation of the family and friends of the victim as we complete our investigation into this suspicious death,” said Jennifer Clarke, a spokesperson for the RCMP.

“While we appreciate the community’s decision to offer a reward for information, we are confident that we have the investigation well in hand and will provide an update when more information is available.”

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Googoo acknowledges that the incident hasn’t been declared a crime but says that all the information they’ve received has indicated that there was some kind of foul play.

Googoo said there are too many unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and that he wants to ensure people in We’koqma’q feel safe.