🚨 Woman Found Dead at Winnipeg Hotel Identified as Melanie McKay
A woman who was found dead at a Winnipeg hotel more than a year ago has now been identified by her family as Melanie McKay. The identification came shortly after an updated sketch of the previously unidentified woman was publicly shared.
Last week, Giganawenimaanaanig — Manitoba’s MMIWG2S+ implementation committee — along with the Winnipeg Police Service, announced that they were still trying to identify the woman and had given her the spirit name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) in a traditional ceremony.
On Saturday, McKay’s family saw the updated sketch shared on social media and came forward to identify her. According to Giganawenimaanaanig, the information reached her family in just 48 hours, thanks to the broad public sharing of the sketch.
“We are deeply grateful to everyone in the community who shared the information,” the organization said in a news release on Tuesday. “You were the heart of this effort in bringing her home and giving this family answers.”
Melanie McKay, originally from Garden Hill First Nation in northern Manitoba, was the third-oldest of six sisters and the mother of five children. She was found deceased on August 10, 2024, at the Manwin Hotel on Main Street in Winnipeg. Although police said foul play was not suspected, no one at the hotel knew who she was at the time.
Police had released a sketch in September of last year in hopes of identifying her, and shared the updated version with additional details at a news conference last Thursday. McKay’s sisters travelled to Winnipeg on Monday to claim her remains.
Giganawenimaanaanig asked for privacy for McKay’s family as they grieve this loss.
đź”— Source: CBC News
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