Prairie Green landfill search 'way under budget' amid quick results, premier says

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 10:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Manitoba's premier says the hunt of the Prairie Green landfill is "way nether budget" arsenic the enactment to find the remains of 1 of the victims of a Winnipeg serial slayer continues.

The state and the national authorities had committed $20 cardinal each for the hunt of the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, which officially began successful December and was expected to proceed done the remainder of 2025.

On Friday, astir 2 months aft the hunt started, the state announced human remains recovered successful the landfill extracurricular of Winnipeg belonged to Harris, 1 of 4 women murdered by Jeremy Skibicki successful 2022.

"We are mode nether fund close present and it reflects the information that we're comparatively aboriginal connected to wherever we expected we mightiness be," Premier Wab Kinew said Monday. 

Winnipeg constabulary said successful 2022 the bodies of 39-year-old Harris and Myran, 26, had ended up successful the landfill aft they were killed by Skibicki, but they decided a hunt was not feasible.

A 2nd acceptable of remains too those belonging to Harris was besides found, but they inactive haven't been identified and determination is nary confirmation they beryllium to Myran.

WATCH | Prairie Green landfill hunt continues:

"Right now, we're inactive waiting connected the recognition process to play out," Kinew said. "Because we don't cognize what's going to hap there, we can't talk publically astir a ton of detail."

Kyra Wilson, expansive main of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, said Monday the speedy results of the hunt amusement what governments tin execute erstwhile they travel unneurotic with First Nations radical and leadership.

Wider searches would find much remains: Wilson

Wilson, as main of Long Plain First Nation, was 1 of the voices advocating connected behalf of the families for the search. Both Myran and Harris were primitively from Long Plain.

"We conscionable request each levels of authorities to travel and enactment everything that we're needing to bash to guarantee that First Nations radical person the aforesaid opportunities and the aforesaid rights arsenic everybody else," Wilson said, adding that the state is successful the mediate of a situation erstwhile it comes to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

"I firmly judge that if we were to look in the landfills, that we would find different remains. This is simply a reality," she said.  

"It lone took a fewer months for america to find [Harris].… If we were to travel unneurotic to hunt each the landfills successful our region, that we'd astir apt find immoderate answers to the questions of families that are missing their loved ones."

Wilson specifically mentioned 31-year-old Ashlee Shingoose, who was past seen in Winnipeg successful 2022, arsenic good arsenic Tanya Nepinak, who went missing successful 2011.

Police searched for the remains of 31-year-old Nepinak astatine the city's Brady Road landfill successful 2012, but the six-day hunt was unsuccessful. 

Skibicki was besides recovered blameworthy successful the deaths of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, and an unidentified pistillate who has been fixed the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, oregon Buffalo Woman.

Contois' remains were partially discovered successful garbage bins adjacent Skibicki's apartment, and astatine the Brady Road landfill.