Police say they’ve identified the remains of a woman found on the banks of the Red River last month.
At a press conference Wednesday morning, Sgt. Wade McDonald of Winnipeg’s homicide unit said tips from the public — backed by forensic investigation — have confirmed the woman’s identity as June Christine Johnson, 40.
Johnson’s death is being treated as a homicide, the city’s ninth of 2023.
After initially reaching out for the public’s help in April, McDonald said, the first call he received suggested Johnson may have been the victim, followed by several other calls the same day.
“Over next day, day and-a-half, with the help of forensic investigators, we were able to confirm the identity of June,” he said.
“Since then the focus has been on the homicide investigation.”
According to police, there has been an all-hands-on-deck approach, with hundreds of members of the police service contributing to the case, a whopping 11 terabytes of video footage obtained, and countless interviews.
McDonald said Johnson, who was last seen in downtown Winnipeg in February, was known to have accessed community resources in the area prior to her disappearance.
In a statement from Johnson’s family, she was described as a ‘loving, devoted mom’ affected by addiction.
Anyone with information about Johnson’s whereabouts between February and April is asked to call homicide investigators at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers 204-786-TIPS (8477).
“No detail is too small,” McDonald said.