WARNING: This story incorporates references to lacking and murdered Indigenous folks. Sources could be discovered on the backside of this story. After a virtually month-long search of the town’s landfill, Deborah Anishinabie’s household continues to be looking for closure as an investigation into her murder in Thunder Bay, Ont., continues. The 42-year-old member of Sandy Lake First Nation was final seen leaving New Newfie’s Pub on the town’s south facet on Dec. 5, 2024. Her body was discovered on Dec. 14, 2024, lower than two kilometres from the pub, within the 800 block of Finlayson Road and the 400 block of McKellar Road North. Nonetheless, police are nonetheless trying to find the remainder of her stays. Levi Michael Lawson, 25, faces charges of second-degree homicide and indignity to a human body in reference to the case. He’s anticipated to look in court docket subsequent on Jan. 5, 2026 for a trial date to be set. In Thunder Bay, that is most likely one of the crucial horrific instances of murder that we’ve seen.- Anna Betty Achneepineskum, deputy grand chief with Nishnawbe Aski Nation The search of the Thunder Bay Strong Waste and Recycling Facility started on Sept. 22 and ended on Nov. 21. A month after its completion, the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) issued a press release saying “no new evidence was discovered.” “Providing closure for the family has been our priority,” stated TBPS chief Darcy Fleury in a information launch on Dec. 22. “Conducting this search was both necessary and appropriate, regardless of the outcome.”
Morgan Harris, Ashlee Shingoose — who had been given the title Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, earlier than she was lastly recognized on March 26, 2025 — Marcedes Myran and Rebecca Contois have been all victims of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki. (Submitted by Cambria Harris, Winnipeg Police Service, Donna Bartlett, Darryl Contois)
The Thunder Bay landfill search comes on the heels of two outstanding searches in Manitoba landfills for 3 First Nations ladies.
An $18 million-search of the Prairie Inexperienced landfill north of Winnipeg earlier this yr uncovered stays belonging to Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, each from Lengthy Plain First Nation.
In the meantime, a search of the Brady Highway landfill in Winnipeg started on Dec. 1 for the stays of Ashlee Shingoose of St. Theresa Level Anisininew Nation.
“Considering there was so much attention and focus and criticism when it came to the Winnipeg landfill search[es], it was quite obvious that no other police services would try to discourage or disagree to those kind of requests,” stated Anna Betty Achneepineskum, a deputy grand chief with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), in an interview with on Tuesday.
‘We need to do a lot more work’
The Thunder Bay landfill search was led by the TBPS alongside the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, Lac Seul Police Service and the Metropolis of Thunder Bay. It’s estimated to have value round $700,000, a spokesperson for the TBPS advised in an electronic mail, with about $600,000 for tools leases and $100,000 in extra time wages. The provincial and federal governments are anticipated to assist with the search prices.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation deputy grand chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum is seen in Lengthy Lake #58 First Nation on this September 2025 file photograph. She says governments and different key establishments should do extra to deal with the problem of lacking and murdered Indigenous ladies, women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse folks. (David Jackson/CBC)
NAN, a political territorial group which represents 49 First Nations in Treaties 9 and 5 — together with Sandy Lake — has been supporting Anishinabie’s household all through the investigation.
“In Thunder Bay, this is probably one of the most horrific cases of homicide that we have seen,” stated Achneepineskum.
“It’s quite obvious that we have not created a safe city for a First Nation woman. This only happened one year ago, so it’s quite obvious we need to do a lot more work.”
Indigenous ladies, women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse persons are 12 occasions extra prone to go lacking or be murdered than non-Indigenous ladies in Canada, in accordance with the federal authorities.
In its information launch, the TBPS acknowledged the case’s connection to “the national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.”
“Anyone who may be affected by this development is encouraged to seek strength and guidance through family, Elders, or community-based supports,” it says.
A candle is seen throughout a vigil for Deborah Anishinabie on this December 2024 file photograph. Anybody with details about Anishinabie’s disappearance and dying is requested to contact the Thunder Bay Police Service or Crime Stoppers. (Sarah Regulation/CBC)
As for Achneepineskum, she stated she desires to see coverage adjustments in keeping with the 231 Requires Justice outlined within the Nationwide Inquiry into Lacking and Murdered Indigenous Girls and Women in 2019.
“There’s been little commitment to implement the recommendations. It’s still not supported by the government that we rely on funding for,” Achneepineskum stated.
This contains adjustments inside police providers, the court docket system, and media protection of those instances, she defined.
“We need to put more investment into prevention, education, and also to support families whose loved one is missing or has been murdered,” she stated.
Anishinabie’s household beforehand described her to as a form and bubbly one that labored within the health-care trade and had lately graduated from the Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Training and Coaching Institute. Since her dying, each her mom and father have handed away, Achneepineskum stated.
Anybody with details about Anishinabie’s disappearance and dying is requested to contact the Thunder Bay Police Service at 807-684-1200, or submit ideas anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.p3tips.com.
“There’s no sentence that can fit this crime,” Achneepineskum stated. “In the end, we hope that the person that’s responsible for this very vicious crime will not be treated with any leniency.”
Help is offered for anybody affected by the problem of lacking and murdered Indigenous folks. Quick emotional help and disaster assist is offered 24/7 via a nationwide hotline at 1-844-413-6649.
Native sources embody:
Beendigen: Disaster Line: 807-346-HELP (4357) or 1-888-200-9997.Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre: 807-345-5840 or 1-855-345-5840.NAN Hope 1-844-NAN-HOPE (626-4673).Ontario Native Girls’s Affiliation: 1-800-667-0816.Anishnawbe Mushkiki: 807-623-0383.Thunder Bay and Space Sufferer Companies: 807-684-1051.Supply hyperlink
