Ashlee Shingoose's father never let go of the idea his missing daughter could be Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe

WARNING: This story contains details of violence against Indigenous women.

Albert Shingoose's long-held suspicions that his missing daughter might have been the unidentified victim of a Winnipeg serial killer have been confirmed.

On Wednesday, Winnipeg police confirmed Ashlee Shingoose, 30, was the first woman killed by Jeremy Skibicki in 2022. The identity of that victim had, until this week, not been confirmed, and she was given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by Indigenous community members.

DNA results identified Shingoose as the victim this month, police said at a Wednesday news conference, after Skibicki gave them new information in a December interview.

Albert had spent years searching for his daughter, travelling from his home in St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation to search the streets of Winnipeg, sometimes until 3 or 4 a.m. He was gone for weeks at a time, but went home empty-handed.

"I wasn't thinking about being scared or something happening to me, I was thinking of trying to find my daughter," he said.

"It was pretty hard."

She was one of four First Nations women murdered by Skibicki in Winnipeg in 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. 

Although the identity of his first victim wasn't known at the time, he was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder last July.

Police previously said DNA samples taken from Ashlee's family members in early 2023 did not match a DNA profile found on a jacket they believed Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe had worn. But the missing murder victim stayed on Albert's mind.

"I'm just thinking about that all the time, that Buffalo Woman … maybe that was her, maybe not. I don't know," he told CBC News in an October 2023 interview.

Police said Wednesday they believe Ashlee's remains were taken to the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg after she was killed in March 2022. At the news conference, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew promised a search of the landfill for her, and later sang a traditional song for Ashlee at the request of her father, who spoke via speaker phone.

WATCH | Premier sings for Ashlee Shingoose:

In his October 2023 interview, Albert expressed hope that as a First Nations person, Kinew — whose government had just been elected — would support a search of Prairie Green landfill for the remains of Harris and Myran. He rejected the reasoning of the former Progressive Conservative government, which pointed to health and safety reasons for its refusal to launch a search.