Families of 34 missing or dead Indigenous women demand 'proper' investigations
CBC News is investigating the deaths or disappearances of dozens of Indigenous women — all cases where the police said there is no evidence of foul play.
Answers into her death. She deserves that. She deserves a proper investigation into her death.- Delores Stevenson, Nadine Machiskinic's aunt
But families say their loved ones may have been murdered and that the police investigations were riddled with problems.
The Current speaks to three CBC reporters: Connie Walker, Geoff Leo and Angela Sterritt, to find out what their investigations have turned up so far.
The case of Patricia Carpenter
The year was 1992. Patricia Carpenter was just 14 when she was found dead, head-first with her feet sticking out of a hole, 55 cm by 58 cm in size and almost two metres deep.
Her family and a coroner's inquest say Patricia's death was never fully investigated.
The inquest ruled as follows:
"We the jury conclude that the nature of Patricia (Trish) Carpenter's death is suspicious. However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that her death is a homicide."
If the police had done a better investigation, more thorough investigation, that would have been a homicide.
Joyce Carpenter, Patricia's mother, believes police determined no foul play in her daughter's death too early and the lack of investigating further hampered the case.
Joyce says the coroner told her that if the police had done a better, more thorough investigation, the investigation would have been a homicide.
While the federal government is expected to announce details of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls next month, it is not clear if the inquiry will look at such cases the CBC is investigating.
According to Joyce, her daughter's case is not included in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry.
"She is one of the many, many, many girls that is not included in the missing and murdered Indigenous thing that is going on because they wrote her off," Joyce said.
The case of Nadine Machiskinic
In January 2015, 29-year-old Nadine Machiskinic was found badly injured at the bottom of a hotel laundry chute in downtown Regina. She died in hospital a couple of hours later.
Her family believes foul play may have been involved in her death but fear they may never know the truth because of a series of failures in the investigation.
"Answers into her death. She deserves that. She deserves a proper investigation into her death," Nadine's aunt, Delores Stevenson tells CBC News.
"It doesn't matter what type of lifestyle she lived, it doesn't matter who she was, she was a human being, she was a part of society and she deserves just as much as anyone else," Stevenson said.
While 911 was called, only an ambulance came to the scene. The police were not notified until 60 hours later. The coroner found bruises on Nadine's face and cracked ribs but did not call police.
Stevenson feels the case in her niece's death was overlooked because she was an Aboriginal woman.
"If that was a non-Aboriginal found in there, do you think that the same results would have came out of that? That's my question as well but I think I already know the answer to it." Stevenson tells CBC News.
The case of Verna Simard
In Sept. 2011, 50-year-old Verna Simard fell from a sixth floor window at a Regent hotel in Vancouver's Downtown East Side. Verna's body was found on the sidewalk outside.
"That feeling has never come over me before where I was so sad and so angry at the same time that I just, I couldn't stand. And I couldn't speak." Ranville said.
A B.C. coroner's report stated Verna fell to her death and the incident was reported to 911 by "multiple witnesses on the street."
The report stated that witness descriptions varied greatly, with some advising they heard a loud argument between a man and woman prior to the fall and others saying they heard nothing.
"Some said Verna screamed while others heard only the impact," the report stated.
The report concluded the following:
"Due to significant inconsistencies in the witness reports around her death, the history of abuse in her relationship and her previous suicide attempt, I classify this death as undetermined and make no recommendations."
Police interviewed Verna's long-term boyfriend, who said to be inside the hotel room before she fell but officers have not said he is a suspect in Verna's death.
This segment was produced by The Current's Karin Marley and Willow Smith.