Family has not given up hope that Indigenous woman who disappeared in Barrie will be found

CBC

a day ago

Family members of an Indigenous woman who went missing in Barrie, Ont., two years ago say they have never given up hope of finding her.
The family of Autumn Shaganash gathered on Tuesday in Sunnidale Park in Barrie, where Shaganash was last seen, to appeal to anyone with information of her whereabouts to come forward.
"We know that Autumn is somewhere out there and hope that one day soon she will return home to us," Lili Moore, her sister, said as she read from a statement.
Shaganash, 26 at the time, was last seen walking in the park on June 10, 2023 between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, according to the Barrie Police Service. She was wearing tan-coloured leggings, slip-on Puma sandals, a black hoodie and carrying a black and tan Juicy Couture purse.
Surveillance video from a nearby home captured her image walking with a man, each of them carrying a ski. Police have said he told them he was walking a few steps ahead of her and was momentarily distracted. When he turned around, she was gone.
According to the family, Shaganash was on her phone talking to an unknown person on the morning she went missing. Police say, within three minutes of the end of that call, her phone went to voicemail. Police say she used an app and that that they haven't been able to determine who she was talking to.
"We miss you so much, Autumn, and we want you to come home," Moore added.
Moore said the family is grateful that Barrie police continue to focus on finding Shaganash in the hopes of reuniting her with her family.
'We're not going to ever stop looking for you'
Kimberly Moore, Shaganash's cousin, said she hopes that Autumn is still alive and that the family still looks for her today.
"I know if she was here and if she could say something, she would be telling us, 'Don't stop looking for me. Don't stop advocating for me,'" she said.
"Autumn, if you do hear this somehow or see this somehow, we're not going to ever stop looking for you."
She said the family has hired a private investigator, and family members would like to see the people who were interviewed shortly after Shagash went missing be reinterviewed. She added that the family searched the park a year ago and found no human remains.
She said she would also like to know who was talking to Shaganash on the phone that morning.
And she added that she would like others to learn from her cousin's case.
"I urge families to look for that person right away. And get that camera footage right away if somebody does go missing," she said.
Clarence Moore, Shaganash's uncle, said his niece used to call her grandmother every night. That hasn't happened in two years, he said.
"It's not like Autumn," he said.
"We just hope and pray that we could find her or anyone out there could help us find her, even let us know if you know anything about what happened. I'm pretty sure that somebody knows out there what has happened. She cannot just disappear like this on her own. We're just really concerned now because it's been two years."
The last two years have been difficult on the family, especially for his mother, he added. He said he thinks about Shaganash every day.
"We're just trying to be strong for each other and have faith that we'll find her and that one day somebody will be empathetic and compassionate enough to let us know what has happened or even to let us know where she is, if she is around still," he said.
Barrie police still receiving tips
Peter Leon, corporate communications coordinator for Barrie Police Service, said eight electronic billboards are running in Barrie this month, displaying information about Shagash's disappearance and reminding the public of a $50,000 reward for information leading police to her or her whereabouts.
"We are still receiving tips. And those tips are valuable to this investigation. I want to assure the public that this investigation remains active and it remains ongoing," Leon said.
The service's major crime unit is following up on every tip, he said. Shaganash's family has suffered and she needs to be reunited with her family, he added.
"We need to go where the information takes us and our investigators are prepared to do that," he said.
Leon said canine units and drones have searched the park repeatedly and an extensive land search has been done with emergency support units. After the March ice storm this year, the park underwent a significant cleanup.
"If anything was going to be discovered, there was the potential at that time as well," he said.
Minni Moore, Shaganash's grandmother, said she prays for her granddaughter's safe return.
"One day at a time, waiting for my granddaughter to come home," she said. "I miss her bad."