‘We’re always praying that we will find her:’ Manitoba woman’s long search for her niece

Susan Caribou's niece has been missing since September 2011 and has never been found.

It’s been a long and emotional journey for Manitoba residential school survivor Susan Caribou.

Her niece, Tanya Nepinak, has been missing since September 2011 and has never been found.

“Tanya was a beautiful person. She loved to sing. The family was her pride and joy,” she said.

In October 2012, Winnipeg police started searching the Brady Road Landfill. Investigators believe Nepinak’s body was put in a West End dumpster a year after she vanished, but a search was unsuccessful.

Thirteen years after her disappearance, Caribou and her family have been left with no answers.

“It’s like she doesn’t matter,” she said.

The remains of both Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris were recently recovered at Manitoba’s Prairie Green Landfill, only three months after a search began.

Both Myran and Harris were among four Indigenous women murdered by convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki back in 2022.

The decision to search the landfill was controversial. In 2022, Winnipeg Police refused to search, saying it was not feasible.

The previous Progressive Conservative government in Manitoba, under former premier Heather Stefanson, said it wouldn’t support a search due to safety concerns and touted that decision during the 2023 provincial election campaign.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said his government was able to do right by the families.

“Many of us knew the odds of success, I certainly was always trying to keep a realistic perspective, but it turns out bringing them home was within our grasp, and something we were able to do for these families,” he told reporters on Monday.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said she hopes the successful search for Harris and Myran will set a precedent for future searches.

“The work is possible and now we know the work will continue and we have many families that are still looking for their loved ones that are missing,” she told CTV News on Monday.

The successful search for the remains of Harris and Myran has brought up deep trauma for Caribou.

“I’m happy the other family is getting closure, but it makes me so angry that they (the police) didn’t give us the same treatment for our loved one and if they did, maybe we would’ve brought her home a long time ago,” she said.

Caribou believes Tanya is still somewhere in the Brady Road Landfill and says she’ll continue to fight for justice, hoping she can one day find her missing niece.

“It’s really hard to live life when a piece of you is missing.”

“I don’t want anyone to forget about my beautiful Tanya. It’s like she’s forgotten.”