Relatives of missing and murdered Indigenous women hope national day of action spurs answers
CBC
It's been more than a year-and-a-half since Jana William's remains were found near the Red River at Alfred Avenue in Winnipeg — and her family is still looking for answers.
Police declared 28-year-old Jana's death a homicide in March 2021.
Charlene Williams, Jana's mom, said she hasn't heard from the detective on her daughter's case since May last year.
"I'm mad about it. It's like they don't even care about what's going on with our people, our women and children. They're not doing nothing, they're just brushing it aside and that's it," Williams said.
In a statement to CBC news, Winnipeg police said families with inquiries and concerns should direct them to the homicide unit.
Oct. 4 marks the National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people who've been harmed by violence.
Williams hopes that on this day, somebody will come forward with information about her daughter's case.
"Somebody has to step up. Somebody out there has gotta know what happened," she said.
Last Thursday, Williams walked 140 kilometres southeast from Eriksdale to Winnipeg to raise awareness about her daughter's death and violence against Indigenous women. She completed her trip on Friday and documented her journey on videos posted to her Facebook profile.
"To get justice for her, I want to find whoever did this to her," Williams said.
"She was my shadow. She was always beside me. We did stuff together and she was giving. She'd give you her last dollar, anything."
Williams said after her daughter was murdered, she resorted to alcohol to cope, but now that she's sober, she wants to speak out.
"Using and trying to block the pain — it was awful, that was really awful," she said.
Donna Bartlett also hopes the national day of action will bring her family some answers. Her granddaughter, Marcedes Myran has been missing since March this year — she was last spotted in Winnipeg's north end. Bartlett is asking for the public's help to find her.
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