The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) is asking folks to assist discover Sherri Lynn Flett, an ACFN member who was final seen in downtown Fort McMurray on Jan. 12 and reported lacking 4 days later.
Athabasca Tribal Council (ATC) organized a search get together that happened on Saturday and Sunday. Near 100 volunteers look in downtown Fort McMurray, the forest, ditches and alleys however sparked no new leads.
ACFN is now asking folks to verify their yards, sheds, neighborhood parks and forested areas near their houses. A telephone message has gone out to residents and native flyers have been hung up in residences, eating places, Peter Pond Mall, the on line casino and accommodations. Lots of these flyers have been put up by Lori Cyprien, Flett’s cousin.
“I simply wish to convey her residence. If it’s one thing to do with foul play and he or she is not with us and he or she’s within the spirit world, I simply wish to convey her physique and put it to relaxation correctly. So, we aren’t going to cease till I can try this,” stated Cyprien.
Wooden Buffalo RCMP Superintendent Mark Hancock stated in a Monday interview that Flett’s disappearance is being investigated. Alberta RCMP confirmed Sunday that the Main Crimes Unit helps with the investigation.
Flett is one among 9 ladies, women and two-spirit folks reported lacking or murdered (MMIWG2S+) within the Fort McMurray Wooden Buffalo space since 2004.
The latest confirmed loss of life was Ellie Herman, a member of the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation who was final seen in September 2019. Herman’s stays have been discovered final yr on March 20 close to a path by the Rotary Membership Gazebo at Thicket Drive and Silin Forest Street.
ACFN Chief Allan Adam choked up when talking concerning the impacts MMIWG2S+ has on Indigenous peoples and their communities.
“It’s robust to see this sort of factor occur and I can’t imagine that this nonetheless continues,” stated Adam. “If somebody went lacking that wasn’t Aboriginal for 12 days, you assume the media wouldn’t learn about it? What number of days in the past would this have been out within the public?”
Extra searches for Flett are deliberate and the search space will develop. Cyprien is getting ready maps of the realm and is asking for volunteers to assist their household.
“What we’ve realized is that there's a lot floor to cowl,” stated Cyprien. “We wish to have her residence protected and alive, but when that isn’t the case, we nonetheless want that closure, we nonetheless want her to come back residence.”
Anybody with details about this incident or felony exercise in Wooden Buffalo is requested to contact Wooden Buffalo RCMP at 780-788-4040 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). Tricks to Crime Stoppers are all the time nameless and might be despatched to tipsubmit.com.
-with recordsdata from Sarah Williscraft
JeHamilton@postmedia.com