Friends and family members who call themselves âDrag the Redâ are dredging up the secrets of Winnipegâs Red River, hoping to find clues that will help police find some of the regionâs missing aboriginal women.
âDrag the Redâ founder Bernadette Smith says she started the group after the remains of missing aboriginal teenager Tina Fontaine washed up on the banks of the Red River in August. Fontaineâs death sparked renewed calls for a national inquiry into the high number of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to launch an inquiry, saying instead that the issue is best left to regional police services.
Smith says her group is taking the search into its own hands. âWeâve always wondered whether thereâs more bodies in here, especially in light of Tina Fontaineâs body being found in the water,â she told CTV Winnipeg on Sunday.
Smithâs sister, Claudette Osborne, went missing in 2008.
But the searchers arenât just looking for bones and bodies. Theyâre dredging up anything that might be helpful for police.
Volunteer Neil Walstrom says theyâve discovered many items people donât want found, including objects tied to cinder blocks and dropped to the bottom of the river.
Walstrom said heâs determined to shine light on whatever clues the river might be hiding. âThe big thing is letting the families know that we care,â Walstrom said. âTheyâre not alone.â
Searchers hang a long metal bar off the back of their boat and drag it horizontally along the bottom of the river. Any time the bar hooks on something along the riverbed, they drag the item up and show it to police.
âDrag the Redâ volunteers say theyâve already given police more than 100 items to examine.
Volunteer Kyle Kematch says heâs helping âDrag the Redâ with the hope of finding evidence linked to the fates of his missing sister and cousin.
âIâm not just sitting there, just wondering when anybody is going to do anything,â he said. âAt least I can say Iâm trying.â
Kematchâs sister, Amber Guiboche, went missing four years ago.
âDrag the Redâ volunteers say they will stay on the Red River as long as possible ahead of the winter freeze. The search will then resume in the spring.
Volunteers have also been searching on foot along the riverbanks.
The âDrag the Redâ Facebook page has more than 1,900 members.
With files from CTV Winnipeg's Ben Miljure