Winnipeg police say DNA tests have confirmed the death of a First Nations woman who disappeared more than two years ago.
Police said Wednesday the tests determined that partial remains found near a back lane in the city’s North End neighbourhood in November are of Leah Keeper.
Keeper was 32 years old when she was reported missing in November 2023.
At the time, investigators considered the death as “suspicious” and the homicide unit took over. The force still considers Keeper’s death suspicious.
“Our thoughts are with Leah’s family and loved ones as well as the Indigenous community,” the police service said in a news release.
“Chief Gene Bowers is in the process of reaching out to community leaders.”
The force requested assistance from the public last month in helping locate Keeper. Police said that just months before her disappearance, she was seen in the same neighbourhood where her remains were eventually found.
Marilyn Courchene, Keeper’s aunt, said police told Keeper’s mother on Tuesday about the discovery, and says a lot of questions remain.
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“What has happened within those three years?” Courchene told reporters at a news conference.
“Was Leah’s remains there all those three years? I don’t have any answers and (Winnipeg police) are not giving us any answers as to what happened.”
Keeper struggled with addiction, but Courchene said she thrived in doing land-based healing in the community of Sagkeeng First Nation, north of Winnipeg, where some of Keeper’s family lives.
She eventually returned to the city for medical reasons and that’s where she disappeared.
Courchene said her niece would keep in contact with family members, and after months of not hearing from her, the family decided to report her missing.
The family relied on community groups to help search for Keeper by visiting encampments and putting up missing person’s posters.
Courchene described Keeper as a bubbly person who had a “squeaky little laugh” and cared for her two daughters.
She said police have been speaking with Keeper’s mother throughout the investigation, but that little information has been provided.
“We’re caught in between the Winnipeg police and we’re caught in between whoever did this to her. And as a family, we’re struggling.”
Keeper spent a lot of her time in Winnipeg, but Sagkeeng Chief E.J. Fontaine said her disappearance and death is felt by the entire community.
“Sagkeeng is one of the most, if not the most, impacted communities from the murdered and missing women crisis,” he said.
“Every time we hear of one of our women being impacted by that phenomena, it hurts just as much as the first time we heard.”
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