Search continues for missing woman from Manitoulin Island

Juanita Migwans, of M'Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island has been missing for over a month, but her aunt says she's not giving up on the search.

"We have, you know, some suspicions," Mary Ashcroft said of her niece.

"One is that she's still on Manitoulin Island and she's no longer with us. The other is that she has been taken against her will to somewhere in Ontario, possibly the Toronto area or the Hamilton area."

Ashcroft said her niece, who is 30 and a mother, had intentions to become a social worker and went to college for a short time with that goal in mind.

"Sadly, things turned bad for her and she got involved in the drug world on the island," Ashcroft said.

 "[She] has not done well since. So that's where she started to spiral."

Ashcroft doesn't live on Manitoulin, but said the drug trade has taken hold there and has ruined people's lives.

It's something local police have also said.

In April, the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin (UCCM) Anishnaabe Police created a drug enforcement unit to address the drug trade on the island, based on concerns from locals.

The UCCM was not available to comment on the woman's disappearance, but Ashcroft said the police service has "been extraordinary" with its efforts to find her niece.

"When she was first reported missing, they immediately took action," she said.

"They have a team of 16 between I believe the UCCM, which is the tribal police, and the OPP. They've done ground searches, they've done helicopter searches, they've done drone searches, and right off the get go they had a RIDE  campaign where they handed out "Juanita's missing" posters ."

Despite those efforts, Ashcroft said, police still don't have any leads to narrow down what might have happened to Migwans or where she might be.

She said a general distrust of police in the community and fear of drug dealers in the area have hampered their search efforts.

"They have had an issue with people answering their doors and talking to the police," Ashcroft said.

But Ashcroft added that people in the community can share anonymously any information they might have about Juanita's disappearance.

"The only thing we know right now is somebody knows where she is," she said.