WINNIPEG — The search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two slain First Nations women has concluded with a new search soon set to begin at a different site for another victim.
The Manitoba government announced Thursday that crews finished looking last week through the Prairie Green landfill, just north of Winnipeg, for remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. They were among four First Nations women murdered by serial killer Jeremy Skibicki in 2022.
“Together, we brought Morgan and Marcedes home,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said in a social media post.
Some of the remains of Harris and Myran were first found at the landfill in February. At the time, the province said it would continue searching the area to recover as much of their remains as possible.
Private ceremonies with the victims’ families, members of the search team and the premier were held Monday and Tuesday, the province said in a statement.
“I am still full of emotions,” Cambria Harris said in a Facebook post Wednesday.
“My mother is coming home and, if it weren’t for (the) searchers’ expertise and commitment, this would not have been possible.”
The province said search equipment and crews would soon move to the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg to search for Ashlee Shingoose.
Skibicki was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the killings of Harris, Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unknown victim not yet identified as Shingoose. Indigenous grassroots community members referred to the woman as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman.
A trial heard Skibicki targeted the women at Winnipeg homeless shelters and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood.
The remains of Contois were found in a garbage bin and at the city-run Brady landfill.
It was believed the remains of Harris and Myran ended up at the privately run Prairie Green site. Their families, Indigenous leaders and advocates pushed for years for a dig there, taking their fight to Parliament Hill and the steps of the Manitoba legislature.
Police and the previous Progressive Conservative government had refused to search Prairie Green, citing safety concerns related to toxic materials and asbestos. The Tories also ran advertisements in the 2023 election campaign that touted their decision to say no to a landfill search.
Kinew’s NDP government, elected that year, promised a search and, in conjunction with the federal government, committed a total of $40 million to the efforts, which began last year.
In March, police identified Shingoose and said they believe her remains are at the Brady landfill.
Kinew promised her family there would also be a search there for her remains.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025.
Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press
