Family of missing Cree woman pleads for information after Edmonton disappearance

With no trace of 24-year-old Natanis Merasty for more than two months, her family is pleading for answers about what happened to her.

Merasty, a member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation who is from La Ronge, Sask., was last seen in Edmonton on May 5. With no confirmed sightings since, Edmonton Police Service is now leading the investigation into the suspicious disappearance.

Merasty's aunt and godmother, Marcela Merasty, said Friday that it isn't normal for her niece to be out of touch with family members for so long.

"By this time, she'd be calling home for family. Anything that was ever wrong with her, she came to us for support," she said.

"The people who have any answers, come forward. Let it out of your heart. Let us family have closure in this."

EPS Det. Lisa Riou said police believe Merasty came to Edmonton with friends or acquaintances. She said police have spoken with people who had contact with Merasty in the city, and there a number of "people of interest."

While Merasty hasn't been seen since she was in Edmonton, police have traced the path of her vehicle in the days that followed. 

She appears on surveillance footage from the Continental Inn in west Edmonton, and then a nearby 7-Eleven, in the early morning hours of May 5.

After that, police say her car passed through Edmonton and Sherwood Park, east of the city, before travelling southwest. It passed through the areas of Buck Lake, Nordegg and Lake Louise in Alberta, before crossing into B.C.

On May 7, the vehicle was on a ferry to Nanaimo, B.C. Three days later, it was back in the Edmonton area, before travelling west, where it was seen west of Lloydminster, on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.

On May 15 — 10 days after Merasty was last seen — her vehicle was found abandoned, repainted from black to silver, in James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.

Riou said there aren't any confirmed images of Merasty during the journey into the other provinces — only the car that belonged to her.

Because Edmonton is the last place she was seen, EPS is leading the investigation and working with RCMP. Investigators are still looking into whether Merasty had connections to the places her car was spotted.

Riou said police are seeking tips from all three provinces involved in the investigation.

"Hopefully as we seek and gain more public information, continue to work with the family, we'll put together a better, broader picture with more details."

Merasty's uncle Victor Michel said the family has a lot of hope that she's still alive.

"We are hurt as a family, obviously ... We are seeking our girl. We want her home."

Merasty often goes by Sikwan with her family members, aunt Noreen Merasty said. If anyone sees her, she said it might help to connect with her by speaking the family's Cree language.

"Just tell her in Cree, like, 'It's OK. You don't need to be scared, you don't need to hide,'" she said.

"We all love you," she said, then switching to Cree to tell her niece, "Come home now."

Police say anyone who may have information about where Merasty is should contact EPS or report tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers.