Landfill search for women’s remains to begin late this fall, Manitoba officials say

June 20, 2024 Canuck

The search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two victims of an admitted serial killer is expected to start late this fall, when technicians will sift through garbage removed from an area the size of four football fields, the engineer who designed the search plan says.

Those were among details revealed at a Thursday briefing by Amna Mackin, the provincial assistant deputy minister leading the operation to find the remains of Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26.

The plan includes several steps before the search itself begins, from securing licence approvals — which the province’s environmental approvals branch granted last week — to doing a test search of another area of the landfill to give searchers an idea of what they’ll be dealing with.

The women’s remains are believed to have been taken to the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg after they were killed by Jeremy Skibicki, 37, who was on trial earlier this month for first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women.

Premier Wab Kinew, who previously stated the search could continue into early 2026, said while the province has been working behind the scenes on search prep for months, it waited to share those details publicly out of respect for the court process.

“To me, this is about sending a message to everyone in Manitoba that you matter. That every single person in this province has dignity and that when somebody goes missing, we go looking because we care. We care about one another in this province,” Kinew said at Thursday’s briefing.

Skibicki admitted during a 2022 police interview to killing Harris and Myran, along with Rebecca Contois, 24, and an unidentified woman community leaders have given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.

An aerial view of a landfill. — An aerial view of Prairie Green landfill near Winnipeg in June 2024. (Trevor Brine/CBC)

Contois’s partial remains were found in garbage bins near Skibicki’s apartment and at the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg. It’s not known where the unidentified woman’s remains may be.

Skibicki’s defence argued he should be found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder during his trial, which heard closing arguments June 10. The judge reserved his decision until July 11.

The landfill search area currently involves three sections (or cells) where it’s believed the women’s remains may be. The sections make up a total area of about 100 by 200 metres — or about four football fields — and a maximum depth of about 10 metres, Mackin said.

Narrowing target, training staff

Mackin said the next steps will involve doing an engineering assessment to narrow down a more specific area to search, and removing garbage sitting on top of where the women’s remains are believed to be.

When the real search starts later this year, waste will be carefully excavated using heavy machinery, then hauled by truck to a nearby temporary search facility and placed in long lines inside using equipment like skid steers.

Though an earlier feasibility study on the landfill search recommended sifting through debris on a conveyor belt, Kinew said doing a search by hand was determined to be the best option, in part because of how wet the garbage they’re searching will be.

Searchers will work in groups of about 12 to manually spread the lines of debris out with rakes and other tools, and open any bags or packaging, before inspecting it for anything that could determine if they’re getting close to garbage put there around the same time as the remains.

That could include things like “noticing the date on a receipt that might otherwise be very difficult to read, seeing the logo of a business on a takeout container that all of a sudden you remember from your training was on the route that day,” said Kinew, who added they’ll be looking to start recruiting staff by late summer or early fall.

The hiring process will be overseen by Emily Holland, a forensic anthropologist at Brandon University who previously helped lead the feasibility study on the landfill search.

Mackin said it’s still unclear exactly how many staff will be needed. That number will depend on several factors, including how many search lines will be set up inside the temporary facility.

A sign that says 'Waste Connections Canada Prairie Green IWMF.' — A sign outside the Prairie Green landfill near Winnipeg in June 2024. (Trevor Brine/CBC)

She said search efforts are expected to continue through the winter months, and the search facility will be heated.

Kinew added some extended family of the victims have expressed interest in being hired for the search operation, which could be possible — though everyone involved will need to undergo significant health and safety training due to risks like asbestos exposure, on top of training for how the search itself will operate.

If the initial search turns up nothing, conversations will need to happen about what happens next, Mackin said. Further options could include digging deeper in the cells, or going back through waste the search operation had removed from on top of the area in question.

She said an oversight committee for the search has also been proposed, which could include representatives from the women’s families and Indigenous elders and leaders.

Kinew said while there’s no guarantee the search finds either of the women’s remains, there will have to be a protocol for what to do if remains are found, and some “pretty intense conversations” with families about what they would consider to qualify as finding their loved ones’ remains.

During Skibicki’s trial, court heard he dismembered one of the two women.

“Out of respect for the flexibility that we want to show the families, you know, I’ll just say that that is a decision that we’re going to make together,” Kinew said.

The provincial and federal governments each committed $20 million to help fund the landfill search earlier this year.

Landfill search for women’s remains to begin late this fall

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Landfill search for women’s remains to begin late this fall, Manitoba officials say

Narrowing target, training staff

Landfill search for women’s remains to begin late this fall

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