Families of missing, murdered Indigenous women speak out

Family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls shared their anguish and devastation on Monday over the loss of their loved ones, as well as their frustration with continued inaction by authorities.

Sisters in Spirit and Amnesty International Canada hosted an emotional virtual news conference to raise awareness and call for accountability from police forces investigating the disappearances and deaths of the women.

Sept. 29 would have been Tatyanna Harrison’s 21st birthday. Her mother, Natasha Harrison, said at the news conference that Tatyanna was courageous and spoke up for injustice. “I know in my heart she wouldn’t be okay with the injustice surrounding her passing.”

That injustice includes the flawed handling of Tatyanna’s case, which involved a lack of information sharing between various police forces and jurisdictions, said Harrison. Although Tatyanna was reported missing on May 3, 2022, it was not until Aug. 6 that the Vancouver Police Department announced that a body found on May 2 in Richmond had been positively identified as Tatyanna’s.

Although her body was discovered May 2 on a yacht at a Richmond marina, and it wasn’t until the next day that a missing person’s report was filed with Vancouver police, “the VPD seemed to miss this connection,” said Harrison.

Harrison said Vancouver police shifted the case to Surrey based on her daughter’s former address, and disregarded tips that her daughter had been living on the Downtown Eastside. Harrison said she spent three months searching that neighbourhood herself for Tatyanna.

On July 14, 73 days after her body was discovered, Richmond RCMP released a sketch of the unidentified woman.

“Seventy-three days it took them to ask the public for assistance,” said Harrison, her voice shaking. Harrison sent the information to Vancouver police herself. “On Aug. 5, 2022, I was informed that the deceased woman in Richmond found three months earlier was in fact Tatyanna.”

Harrison said the family was told the case has been closed.

“I hope we can reach a point in our justice system where cases like these get solved, instead of brushed under the rug because one person decides a human being doesn’t deserve a proper investigation. We need to end the careless disregard for human life based on race, stigma and class.”

Family members of other missing an murdered women, including Sheila Poorman, mother of Chelsea Poorman whose remains were found in an abandoned Vancouver mansion on April 22, 2022, and Josie August, a family member of Noelle O’Soup, who was just 13 when she disappeared, also spoke on Monday. O’Soup’s remains were found on May 1, 2022, in an apartment at 405 Heatley St., a full year after her disappearance.

Brenda Wilson, sister of Ramona Wilson, whose body was found near the Smithers Airport some 10 months after her 1994 disappearance, said nothing has changed for families. “Twenty-eight years later, there is still no answer in my sister’s case.”

Judy Wilson of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs called for an end to the mishandling of cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women, and accountability from law enforcement. “We don’t need police apathy. We need police to take more action and take these cases more seriously.”

Harrison said the lack of coordination between jurisdictions is “a question for our politicians.”

“We saw this happen with (Robert) Pickton. He benefitted from the jurisdiction issues.” Harrison said all information involving missing and murdered women should be put in one database that different jurisdictions can share.

According to a report released by the RCMP in 2021, 1,017 women and girls identified as Indigenous were murdered between 1980 and 2012 — a homicide rate roughly 4.5 times higher than that of non-Indigenous women in Canada.

dryan@postmedia.com