Police asked to check home long before woman's remains found

Family members of Myrna Letandre, who was found dead in a Winnipeg home last week, asked police to check out the same house years ago but nothing happened.

Letandre's remains were discovered in a rooming house on Lorne Avenue, in the city's Point Douglas area, on May 9.

She was 36 years old when she was last seen in the downtown area on Oct. 5, 2006.

Her first cousin, Patty Sinclair, told CBC News that Letandre's sister, Lorna Sinclair, had visited the Lorne Avenue house shortly after her disappearance.

There, Lorna Sinclair confronted Traigo Andretti, who was living in the house at the time and was often seen hanging out with Letandre, according to the cousin.

"She tried to get the police to go back there because that Andretti had boxes packed, he had things packed…. She saw some of Myrna's things there, and the man told Lorna, 'No, she's not here … she's in Alberta, she's gone,'" Patty Sinclair said in an interview.

"Lorna told him that, you know, she wouldn't leave without her things. And she went back to the police and police didn't do anything."

Andretti charged in wife's death in B.C.

Police in Winnipeg have not charged anyone in connection with Letandre's death.

Andretti, 37, was charged on Monday with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his wife, 41-year-old Jennifer McPherson.

McPherson had gone missing on May 1 and her remains were found early last week in British Columbia, where the couple was working at a fishing lodge on Hanson Island.

According to McPherson's family, she and Andretti moved from Winnipeg to B.C. about five years ago.

While in Winnipeg, the couple had lived in the house where Letandre's remains were found.

Although police in Winnipeg have not said whether the discovery of Letandre's remains had anything to do with McPherson and Andretti, court documents suggest that Letandre and Andretti were dating around the time she went missing.

Police respond

RCMP Cpl. Miles Hiebert told CBC News that Project Devote, a joint task force involving members of the RCMP and the Winnipeg Police Service, took over the Letandre investigation in January 2012.

Hiebert said he cannot comment on what happened before that, but he said the investigation is ongoing and active.

He would not say if there is a connection between Letandre's case and the case involving Andretti.

Hiebert would only confirm that police in British Columbia provided information that led to the search of the Lorne Avenue rooming house — and the discovery of Letandre's remains — last week.

Letandre 'kind, thoughtful'

Patty Sinclair said she and Letandre grew up together on the Pinaymootang First Nation, and they remained close after moving to Winnipeg.

"She was quiet, kind, thoughtful, creative," Sinclair said of her cousin.

Sinclair recalled one time when she was missing her mother, who had passed away, and Letandre comforted her by sharing her own favourite memories of Sinclair's mother.

Letandre suffered from chronic pain after a fall from the Slaw Rebchuk Bridge, Sinclair said, adding that her cousin had screws and plates in her bones and relied on medication but she learned to walk again.