Canada: Body of indigenous woman found in landfill

Police in the Canadian province of Manitoba have found the body of an indigenous woman in a city landfill, less than a year after remains of another woman were discovered in the same location.

The body of Linda Mary Beardy, 33, was recovered from the Brady landfill in Winnipeg on Monday.

It is where the remains of Rebecca Contois were found on 16 May.

Police said they believe the two deaths are unrelated.

Ms Contois, 24, is one of four indigenous women who are believed to have been killed by an alleged serial killer in Winnipeg, who has since been arrested. The bodies of the other three have not yet been found.

On Tuesday, Winnipeg police said they found another body - that of Ms Beardy - though there is no evidence to suggest she was a victim of the same alleged killer.

"At this time, we have no information to suggest that there are any other victims, or that this investigation is related to any previous incidents," Inspector Shawn Pike told reporters.

Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered or missing than other women in Canada, according to a 2019 report by Canada's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women inquiry.

Police said Ms Beardy is from Lake St Martin First Nation and had been living in Winnipeg. She had not been reported as a missing person.

Police said they believe her body was transported to the landfill by a garbage truck, likely a few hours before she was found.

Her death, which police have deemed suspicious, is now being investigated by the homicide unit.

The recovery of Ms Beardy's body comes amid ongoing pressure on Winnipeg police to search landfills in the city for the remains of the other missing women.

The bodies of Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, and a third unidentified victim, whom First Nations elders have named Buffalo Woman, have yet to be found.

All three, along with Ms Contois, are believed to have been killed by Jeremy Skibicki, who has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

A feasibility study, funded in part by Canada's federal government, is now under way to determine whether it is possible to search Prairie Green landfill, where the bodies of Ms Harris and Ms Myran are believed to be.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, head of the feasibility study, has called for both Brady landfill and Prairie Green landfill to be shut down and searched further.

"It's a dumping ground for people that are killing our First Nation women," Ms Merrick told Canadian news outlet CTV.

Red dresses were hung outside Brady landfill on Tuesday after the body of Ms Beardy was found, in honour of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada.

The National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls found that about 1,200 First Nations women in Canada had been murdered or gone missing between 1980 and 2012. Advocates believe the number is higher.