‘Buffalo Woman' has a name
Miles MorrisseauICT
Winnipeg police have identified 'Buffalo Woman' — one of four known victims of a serial killer who targeted Indigenous women in Manitoba — as 31-year-old Ashlee Christine Shingoose of St. Theresa Point Anishinew Nation.
The identification was confirmed through DNA tests on pants linked to convicted murderer Jeremy Skibicki close to three years to the day after Shingoose went missing from Winnipeg, officials announced this week.
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The news prompted police to redouble their efforts to search Winnipeg-area landfills where the remains of three other victims have already been found.
Shingoose, who was named Buffalo Woman or Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe by Indigenous elders, was among four Indigenous women Skibicki confessed to killing during the spring of 2022. He told police that Shingoose was his first victim, in mid-March of 2022. The remains of the other women had been dumped in a garbage bin near his apartment and eventually taken to landfills.
Shingoose's family members traveled to Winnipeg and spoke to the media on Wednesday, March 26, with First Nations and community supporters.
Ashlee's father, Albert Shingoose, thanked First Nations leadership and the community for helping the family try to bring their daughter home, and he urged officials to continue searching the Brady Landfill.
'Please, I need your voices,' he implored, holding his hand up to the sky. 'I need your voices to make them start on that landfill as soon as possible. It's too long. It's too long. It's not good. A landfill is not a burial ground … We're not garbage. Nobody is garbage.'
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, speaking to reporters the previous day when the identification was released, made a commitment to continue the search.
'I want to say to Ashlee's parents, to her mom and dad who I had a chance to speak to briefly yesterday, I promise you that we are going to search the Brady Landfill for your daughter,' Kinew said. 'I cannot promise you that we are going to bring her home, but I can promise you that we will try.'
The identification was confirmed through DNA tests on pants that Skibicki had mentioned to police during his confession, according to CBC News.
A family's grief
On Tuesday, March 25, members of the police services, including support workers, flew to the isolated community in northeastern Manitoba to share the tragic news with the family.
Albert Shingoose said the family did not expect police to tell them that their daughter had been identified.
'Sgt. Mike Macdonald came over to talk with us at St. Theresa Point, came to talk to my wife and I. We didn't know this was going to come up. We figured all they were going to say to us was, 'They are still going to look,'' Shingoose said.
'They came out .. and told us, 'We know where Ashlee is,'' he said. 'My wife and I looked at each other and we cried.'Ashlee's mother, Theresa, said her daughter had traveled far from home to seek a better life in the city.
'She was a loving person,' the grieving mother told reporters. 'She wanted to look after her kids. When she came here with her kids, she went to the women's shelter because we had no place at our home … They found a place for her and she was making it good after that.'
Theresa then noticed that her daughter had started hanging out with different people.
'She started taking drugs and drinking, and then she lost her kids and they were sent to my home for me to look after,' she said.
A killer's confession
Families of two other missing women, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, had been pushing more than two years to convince officials to search the landfills, after the partial remains of another woman, Rebecca Contois, O-Chi Chak Ko Sipi First Nation, were found at the Brady Landfill site.
Despite protests from the families and a 'Camp Morgan' set up outside the Brady Landfill, government officials finally began formal searches in December. Earlier this month, officials announced they had found two sets of remains at the Prairie Green Landfill that were identified as Harris and Myran.
Skibicki, of Winnipeg, had confessed to the killings and was convicted in July 2024 of four counts of first-degree murder in the killings of four women – Harris, Myran, Contois and the woman identified at the time only as Buffalo Woman.
Skibicki identified Shingoose as his first victim, and law enforcement officials collected DNA from a jacket believed to have been worn by her. The DNA on the jacket did not belong to Shingoose, however, and officials then tested pants that Skibicki had also mentioned in his confession to police, according to CBC. The DNA was found to be Shingoose's.
It's not clear if officials believe there are other victims yet to be identified.
'Kindness and compassion'
The announcement that Shingoose had been identified was made by Winnipeg Police Chief Gene Bower, who was sworn into the chief's position earlier in the month after serving as deputy chief during the investigation.
'Our hearts go out to Albert and Theresa Shingoose, Ashley's parents, and all the members of St. Theresa's Point who received this unbearable news,' Bower said. 'Your daughter deserved to be named, and we offer our condolences. I would be remiss not to acknowledge that the initial decision not to search for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran has had a significant impact on the families and the community. We have had time for reflection for almost nearly three years, while we cannot undo the past, we can learn from it. Today, we know what needs to be done.'
First Nations leaders and community activists were present at the announcement, including Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson.
'This tragedy is part of a pattern of violence against First Nations women, girls and Two-Spirit people,' Wilson said. 'AMC supports the Shingoose family and the immediate search of the Brady Landfill. We must bring Ashlee home.'
Wilson thanked the chief, Kinew and other officials for their commitments to the families.
'Today we recognize the strength, love and resilience that bind us together as First Nations people,' Wilson said. 'Kindness and compassion for our relatives got us here and supporting families will continue to bring our relatives home.'
Kinew gave credit to the families for never giving up and for their efforts not only to bring home their loved ones home but also to bring about change on a national level.
'The call from the families and the community to search the Prairie Greene Landfill became a conversation in Canada about reconciliation,' Kinew said. 'I am very proud of the people of Manitoba, even through many ups and downs and many difficult conversations along the way. I am very proud that the people of Manitoba answered, 'In this province, when someone goes missing, we go looking.''
He added, 'In addition to having your loved ones being returned to you, I hope you realize that you are changing Manitoba and you are changing Canada for the better. Future generations of girls and women and Two-Spirited people will be safer because of that. As the leader of the province and as a leader in a united team Canada I want to say thank you. I want to say Meegwetch for that work.'
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