Latest news with #MashkodeBizhiki'ikwe
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Police ask public to help identify new Buffalo Woman
On the eve of a historic hearing where the loved ones of a serial killer's victim will address court, Indigenous elders have restored the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, for another whose identity has eluded police a year after her death. Police continue to ask the public for help in identifying a woman who was found dead in a stairwell inside the Manwin Hotel on Aug. 10, 2024. Her death is not believed to be suspicious. On Wednesday, she was christened Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, the same name given to Ashlee Shingoose before she was identified as a victim of Jeremy Skibicki. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Albert and Theresa Shingoose talk about the pain of losing their daughter, Ashlee Shingoose, at a news conference, Thursday. Thelma Morrisseau, who helped give Shingoose the name Buffalo Woman in 2022, was one of the elders who took part in the naming ceremony. The name was chosen with the blessing of Shingoose's parents, who joined Morrisseau in an emotional news conference Thursday afternoon pleading for the public's help. 'I wanted them to know that another one, our sister here, who is unidentified, also needed a name,' Morrisseau said from the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre on King Street Thursday, gesturing to the sketch of the missing woman provided by police. 'Because of the generosity and the love of that buffalo spirit … We felt that passing the name on to this beautiful sister would be very appropriate.' Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. The Winnipeg Police Service released an updated sketch Thursday of Buffalo Woman, with new details including small tattoos on her hand and a metal plate on her left clavicle. 'Although foul play was not suspected, no one present knew who she was or where she had come from,' said Sgt. Ashley Hartle with the Winnipeg Police Service missing persons unit. 'Since that day, investigators have been working to identify her, and we continue to search for answers. This is not a criminal investigation.' Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre will accept tips from the public, recognizing that some may not be comfortable reaching out to police directly. SUPPLIED Winnipeg police released an updated sketch of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, a woman who was found dead in the Manwin Hotel a year ago. Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe is described as anywhere from 25 to 40 years old, Indigenous with shoulder-length dark hair and brown eyes. She had no remaining upper teeth, but her lower teeth were all intact. She had a papiloma above her left eyebrow and a small tattoo reading 'SN' on her right wrist and 'SS' on the back of her right hand. Margaret MacKinnon, who works with Ma Mawi, said the renewed calls to learn the woman's identity have included calls to the provincial government and other bodies that may have access to identifying information. 'Systems work in silos. They have the answers, but they can't give us those answers. So community members search, and try to find closure on their own,' she said. 'This is an opportunity for these systems that say they believe in truth and reconciliation, (to) use those systems of reconciliation.' An unprecedented court sitting is set to be held Friday to hear from Shingoose's family, who weren't able to address court last August with other victims' families because she had not yet been identified. A preliminary search of the Brady Road landfill for Shingoose's remains began this week, Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday. Albert and Theresa Shingoose, Ashlee's parents, said Thursday they had been given a coat that belonged to Shingoose the day before. 'That was one step ahead to give us that strength to carry on,' Albert said. They will return home to St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation in northern Manitoba after the court sitting. They hope the family of the woman who now shares their daughter's name gets the closure they have spent years waiting for. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday that a preliminary search of Brady Road landfill for Shingoose's remains began this week. 'We're going to keep on helping whoever, that person that needs that help, to look for their loved ones, to find their loved ones, to have their closure for them,' Albert said. 'They need their closure like we do.' Buffalo Woman is described as anywhere from 25 to 40 years old, Indigenous with shoulder-length dark hair and brown eyes. She had no remaining upper teeth, but her lower teeth were all intact. She had a papiloma above her left eyebrow, and a small tattoo reading 'SN' on her right wrist and 'SS' on the back of her right hand. Police ask anyone with information to reach out at 204-986-6250 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477. In addition to Ma Mawi, other community organizations taking tips include Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak at 204-677-1648 and the Southern Chiefs' Organization at 431-294-0366. Malak AbasReporter Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Global News
a day ago
- Global News
Woman found dead last August remains unidentified, Winnipeg police say
Winnipeg police are asking the public for help in identifying a woman found dead a year ago at the Manwin Hotel. Police said Thursday that they issued a similar public appeal in September of last year, but still haven't had any success. The initial investigation determined there was nothing criminal about the woman's death, but police — who are working alongside cultural advocacy organization Giganawenimaanaanig — are still hoping to return the mystery woman's remains to her family. 'This is not a criminal investigation,' said Sgt. Ashley Hartle of Winnipeg Police Service. 'Rather we're assisting the chief medical examiner's office in partnership with community hoping that together we can connect this woman to her loved ones.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy She has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe — or 'Buffalo Woman' — by the family of Ashlee Shingoose, the victim of a Winnipeg serial killer. Shingoose was also referred to as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe until her remains were identified this past March. Story continues below advertisement The woman is described as between the ages of 25-40, around five-feet-seven-inches in height with a slender build, and with shoulder-length dark hair and brown eyes. Police said she also had a number of identifying features, including two tattoos: the letters 'SN' on her right wrist and 'SS' on the back of her right hand. She also had no remaining upper teeth at the time of her death and a metal plate with screws attached to her clavicle. She was last seen wearing black pants with a bright yellow stripe, black running shoes, and a grey hoodie with the word 'Bench' on it. She was also carrying a blue/grey Roots-branded suitcase and a tan purse. If you have any information that could help identify her, you can contact Winnipeg police at 204-986-6250 or WPS-missingpersons@ 0:25 Winnipeg police look to identify mystery woman found dead Aug. 10
Global News
17-07-2025
- Global News
Manitoba landfill search for more remains of slain women concludes
The Manitoba government says a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two victims of a serial killer has finished. The province began searching the Prairie Green Landfill, north of Winnipeg, in December for the remains of First Nations women Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, who were killed in 2022. Some of their remains were first found at the site in February. The province said at the time it would continue searching the area to recover as much of their remains as possible. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The government says the search ended last week and private ceremonies with the victims' families, members of the search team and Premier Wab Kinew were held Monday and Tuesday. It says a search would soon begin at another landfill for the remains of a third victim. Story continues below advertisement 'Relevant specialized equipment and personnel will soon transition to the Brady Road landfill to continue the search for Ashlee Shingoose (Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman),' the province said in a statement Thursday. It's believed the remains of Harris and Myran ended up at the privately run Prairie Green Landfill after they were killed by Jeremy Skibicki. He was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the killings of four women: Harris, Myran, Shingoose and Rebecca Contois. A trial heard Skibicki targeted the women at Winnipeg homeless shelters and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood. The remains of Contois were found in a garbage bin and at a different landfill. Earlier this year, police identified Shingoose, who had not been named during the trial. She was referred to as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, a name gifted to her by Indigenous grassroots community members.
CBC
28-03-2025
- CBC
Parents decide Ashlee Shingoose will continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe
The father of a woman recently identified as the victim of a Winnipeg serial killer has decided she will continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. Indigenous community members, including a group of advocates, knowledge keepers and grandmothers, bestowed Ashlee Shingoose the name, which translates to Buffalo Woman, when she was the sole unidentified murder victim of Jeremy Skibicki. Shingoose, a mother of three, was among the four First Nations women killed by Skibicki between March and May 2022, along with Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26 — both originally from Long Plain First Nation — as well as Rebecca Contois, 24, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation. The first of Skibicki's victims, Shingoose, was unidentified for years, but DNA results stemming from new information provided by Skibicki in December helped Winnipeg police confirm the 30-year-old from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation was Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. Roughly 60 people, including elders and MMIWG2S+ advocates came together around a community fire on Thursday, some of them drumming, chanting and feeding the flames with tobacco wrapped in red cloth, to remember Shingoose and support her family. After the ceremony, Thelma Morrisseau, one of the grandmothers who took part in the late 2022 ceremony to give Shingoose a name before she was identified, told Shingoose's parents they could choose for Ashlee to continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe. WATCH | Ashlee Shingoose's father accepts Thelma Morrisseau's invitation: Ashlee Shingoose's father wishes her daughter continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe 32 minutes ago Duration 1:01 Indigenous community members named Shingoose 'Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe' or Buffalo Woman, when Winnipeg police couldn't identify her after she was murdered by a Winnipeg serial killer in 2022. "That's your decision, and the way we had intended is that she would walk with that name for as long as she needed, or forever and into the spirit world if that is your wish," she said. Albert Shingoose, Ashlee's father, told the crowd her daughter would carry the name, and those who came for the community fire erupted in chants inside the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre. Albert and his wife, Theresa Shingoose, also thanked those at the ceremony and the community at large for helping their family go "the long way," acknowledging that if it wasn't for the support, they wouldn't have made it thus far. "It's overwhelming for me," Theresa Shingoose, Ashlee's mother, said. "It feels that I've known you for a long time." "It was a hard journey, wondering where my daughter is, always waiting for her, hoping … but we know now," she said. Premier Wab Kinew, who was also at the ceremony, acknowledged Shingoose's family for how, in spite of grieving the loss of their daughter, they have found ways to honour the community and the support it has given them. "To me, that's just the spirit of generosity that they bring forward," Kinew said. "They're talking about gratitude … these are wonderful people." The premier reiterated his promise of searching the Brady Road landfill, where Winnipeg police said Shingoose's remains are believed to be. Sandra DeLaronde, chair of Giganawenimaanaanig Manitoba's MMIWG2S+ implementation committee, who was also at Thursday's community fire, said that while there is a sense of muted gratitude, there's also frustration over why it took so long for the family to find answers. "Everybody should have their loved ones returned to them," Delaronde said, adding she's happy the family won't have to fight for the landfill to be searched.
CBC
28-03-2025
- CBC
Ashlee Shingoose's father wishes her daughter continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe
Indigenous community members named Shingoose 'Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe' or Buffalo Woman, when Winnipeg police couldn't identify her after she was murdered by a Winnipeg serial killer in 2022.
