Police are investigating the tragic death of a 15-year-old girl who was found barely alive on Vancouver Island earlier this month.
“This sad occasion, we are sending condolences and love to a family in the community who has suffered a loss,” Xtli’li’ye (Lydia Hwitsum), chief of the Cowichan Tribes, told Global News Thursday.
North Cowichan Duncan RCMP say on May 15 the girl was found in a semi-conscious state under what is being called “suspicious circumstances.” She later died in the hospital.
The teen was found near the Super 8 Motel off the Trans-Canada Highway on the outskirts of Duncan.
According to posts on social media, she had been missing for 26 hours prior to her death.
RCMP said toxicology analysis and other medical examinations are underway to determine the circumstances surrounding her death.
Xtli’li’ye said they have reached out to the victim’s mother to offer support. In addition, members are reaching out to schools and community groups.
“From Cowichan’s perspective, we’re supporting the need for justice, a call for justice, that a proper investigation happen and anybody that has any information about the whereabouts of this young person leading up to this terrible death, I’m urging you to reach out and support,” she said.
Xtli’li’ye said the Cowichan Tribes have brought in cultural support and have leaned on the ways of their people to bring the community together as a whole.
“It has been since 1976 that a Cowichan woman was first reported missing and has never been found,” Xtli’li’ye said. “Since then, I think we’ve seen so much harm come to Indigenous women over time, Cowichan women. When it comes to missing and murdered Indigenous women, children, youth, Cowichan is stepping up to offer as much support as we can.”
She said this is an opportunity for all levels of government to come together to provide youth with guidance and support in order to provide better lives for everyone.
“We’ve got a commitment to reach out to young people in our community,” Xtli’li’ye added. “We’ve set out a number of safety protocols and approaches in terms of the level of risk that’s involved, that we see that’s involved, the predatory potential behaviour that’s out there with respect to the drugs.”
She said they are considering having a community-wide youth meeting to include their voices in crisis situations.