WINNIPEG — Ashlee Christine Shingoose had her name and identity restored Wednesday, three years after she disappeared and died anonymously at the hands of a serial killer.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew also promised her family there would be a search of a Winnipeg landfill for her remains.
“I cannot promise you that we will bring her home, but I can promise you that we are going to try,” Kinew told a news conference.
Police confirmed Shingoose, a 30-year-old from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation, was the fourth victim of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki and her remains are believed to be at the Brady landfill.
It’s the same landfill where the partial remains of another Skibicki victim were found. The remains of the two other women were recently discovered at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg.
During Skibicki’s trial last summer, Shingoose had not been positively identified and was referred to as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, a name given to her by an Indigenous grassroots group.
Court heard Skibicki targeted his victims at homeless shelters in Winnipeg and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood.
Skibicki admitted to the 2022 slayings but argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental illness. A judge convicted him of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to life in prison.
Police were close to identifying Shingoose at the time, but a conclusive match remained out of reach.
Deputy Police Chief Cam Mackid said investigators received new information in December during a prison interview with Skibicki.
The details established that Shingoose’s remains were taken to the Brady landfill, he said. They also revealed other information that led investigators to seek further forensic testing.
Police said it’s believed Shingoose’s remains were put into a garbage bin behind a north end business and ultimately ended up in the Brady landfill in March 2022.
The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were recovered from the Prairie Green landfill earlier this year, while the remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a garbage bin and at the Brady site.
Earlier Wednesday, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said she had spoken with Shingoose’s parents.
“My heart goes out to all the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls,” she said.
Woodhouse Nepinak said Shingoose left her home on the reserve in northeastern Manitoba because of overcrowding.
The chief called for an inquiry into the investigation of the women’s deaths.
“Why didn’t the police service help these families right off the bat, and why didn’t the previous provincial government want to help these families right off the bat?”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2025.
Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press
