2008-ALEXANDER, Shannon-9/5/2008, Zimi Anishinabeg First Nation,ON-16

[PorchlightCanada]

Racism behind weak response to girls' disappearance, native leader says
Brendan Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen; Canwest News Service
Published: 3:31 am
OTTAWA -- Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine says not enough attention is being paid when young native women go missing in Canada -- a complacency he says is rooted in racism and discrimination.

Fontaine made the statement Saturday during an emotional appeal by the parents of two teenage girls who have been missing for a month in Ontario.

"I just want my daughter home, so I can hear her voice again," a near-sobbing Laurie Odjick said as she talked about her missing daughter, Maisy, 16, and Maisy's missing friend Shannon, 17.


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Font:****Bryan Alexander, Shannon's father, appealed directly to his daughter. "I don't care what situation you think you're in, I don't care, we'll fix it when you come home," he said. "I miss you, baby."

The girls have been missing from the Kitigan Zimi Anishinabeg First Nation -- about 130 kilometres north of Ottawa -- since Sept. 5.

Fontaine said the response when First Nations women go missing is often too little, too late. "(Maisy's and Shannon's) disappearance is just one more example of the lack of attention paid when our young women go missing," he said.

Shannon's father was the last person to see the girls that day, when he left them at his home to help paint his son's house in Ottawa. He said he gave each of the girls some money, made sure there was food in the fridge and told them he'd be back in a day or two. When he returned, there was no sign of either of them, but all of their belongings, including wallets, were still at home. There was also no sign of forced entry.

A website and Facebook group have been set up to take donations for a reward for information that leads to Maisy's and Shannon's safe return.


http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...64-b89006bd6336

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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...pic=38249&st=0&

[PorchlightCanada]

http://www.findmaisyandshannon.com/

[PorchlightCanada]

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/s...00-087da243e345

Parents plead for girls' safe return
Friends went missing from reserve north of Ottawa last month
Brendan Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, October 04, 2008
OTTAWA-With their teenage daughters now missing for a month and no leads as to where they might be, the parents of Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander fought through tears on Saturday to ask anyone with information about the girls' whereabouts to come forward.

"I just want my daughter home, so I can hear her voice again," said a near-sobbing Laurie Odjick, Maisy's mother.

Bryan Alexander, Shannon's father, appealed directly to his daughter.


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Font:****"I don't care what situation you think you're in, I don't care, we'll fix it when you come home," he said. "I miss you, baby."

Maisy, 16, and Shannon, 17, have been missing from the Kitigan Zimi Anishinabeg First Nation near Maniwaki, Que. - about 130 kilometres north of Ottawa - since Sept. 5.

Mr. Alexander was the last person to see the girls that day, when he left them at his home to help paint his son's house in Ottawa. He said he gave each of the girls some money, made sure there was food in the fridge and told them he'd be back in a day or two. When he returned, there was no sign of either of them, and all of their belongings, including their clothes and wallets, were still at home. There was also no sign of forced entry.

Their parents said the girls are best friends and they are believed to still be together.

The families and friends of the missing teens have set up a website at www.findmaisyandshannon.com, as well as a Facebook group, where they are collecting donations for a reward to give to anyone who provides information that leads to the girls' safe return. So far, they have collected more than $4,000.

Police have received reports of several apparent sightings of the girls on both sides of the Ottawa River, but all have been proven wrong or are unconfirmed.

The RCMP's aboriginal liaison officer, Cpl. L.W. Russett, said the investigation is no further along today than when it began last month.

"Nothing has surfaced. There's no new positive intelligence," he said, adding that the search has now expanded to Ottawa.

Ms. Odjick and Mr. Alexander were joined yesterday by the country's most prominent aboriginal leader, who added a renewed sense of urgency to the search for the teens.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine said the response when First Nations women go missing is often too little, too late.

"(Maisy's and Shannon's) disappearance is just one more example of the lack of attention paid when our young women go missing," he said, adding the complacency is rooted in racism and discrimination. "What we see nationally is brought home to us here with this situation."

Only two weeks ago, a group called Walk4Justice walked from British Columbia to Parliament Hill to demand a public inquiry into the 3,000 unsolved cases of missing and murdered Canadian women. Some estimates say as many as 80 per cent of the women are aboriginal.

Mingling with Ms. Odjick's and Mr. Alexander's obvious pain was anger with the lack of attention given to their children.

"What angers me is that Boomer the lion got more attention and press than these children have had and they deserve more than that," Ms. Odjick said, referring to the lion cub who broke out of its owner's care and was running loose around the Kitigan Zibi reserve last May.

Following the press conference was the third annual Sisters in Spirit vigil on Parliament Hill, organized by the Native Women's Association of Canada to honour the lives of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

Shannon Alexander is five-foot-nine, weighs about 145 pounds and has brown eyes and short, dark brown hair. She has facial acne, pierced ears and wears a silver necklace with a feather on it.

Maisy Odjick is described as about six feet tall and weighing 119 to 125 pounds. She has short brown hair, a pierced left nostril and two piercings on her lower lip.

If you have any information about the whereabouts of any of the missing girls, please call Ottawa Police at 613-236-1222, Sureté du Québec at 819-310-4141 or the Kitigan Zibi Police Dept. at 819-449-6000.

[PorchlightCanada]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/10...983386-sun.html

Parents' tearful plea to find girls

Best friends disappeared from Maniwaki reserve on Sept. 5

By AEDAN HELMER, SUN MEDIA

The Ottawa Sun




Four weeks after two teenage girls vanished from a Maniwaki reserve, and with no strong leads in the case, the parents of Shannon Alexander and Maisy Odjick issued a tearful public plea for help.

"I just want my daughter home, or to hear her voice again," said Laurie Odjick.

Her daughter Maisy, 16, disappeared along with her best friend Shannon, 17, from the Kitigan Zibi reserve on Sept. 5.

"It's getting harder every day that goes by," said Odjick. "It's been four weeks that they've been gone, and with nothing, no good leads, and we just want to find them and bring them home."

Some tips to police indicated the girls might be in the Ottawa area, possibly in Vanier, the Byward Market, or in areas of Gatineau.

Brian Alexander, Shannon's father, said the girls' disappearance makes no sense.

"Both of their wallets were at home. Their clothing, everything was in the house. They even locked the door like they were coming back home," he said. "None of it makes any sense."

Both parents dismissed speculation that the girls had decided to run away, but still issued a plea directly to the girls to phone home, "no matter what situation you think you're in," said Alexander.

Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine called the press conference to coincide with a vigil on Parliament Hill yesterday for missing or murdered aboriginal women across the country.

Fontaine said Maisy and Shannon's disappearance is "just one more example of the lack of attention paid when our young women go missing."

"Our concern regarding missing aboriginal women is that there has to be greater effort put into finding these women, and we believe that the police can do more than they've done," said Fontaine.

"They have to demonstrate their concern and their commitment to helping us find these girls. So what we see nationally has come home in this situation."

DONATIONS FOR REWARD

The families of the missing girls have set up a website (www.findmaisyandshannon.com) to collect donations for a reward.

In the first few days, the website has already brought in nearly $5,000, which they hope will lead to someone providing solid information.

"We don't want these girls forgotten," said Odjick.

Anyone who might have information is asked to call Kitigan Zibi police at 819-449-6000 or Surete du Quebec at 819-310-4141.

[PorchlightCanada]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008...ing-080930.html

Family, volunteers search Quebec reserve for missing girls
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 | 4:53 PM ET Comments3Recommend24CBC News
Maisy Odjick, left, and Shannon Alexander have been missing since Sept. 6. Volunteers combed riverbanks on an Algonquin reserve near Maniwaki, Que., for clues in the disappearance of two teenage girls who haven't been seen in almost a month.

Shannon Alexander, 17, and Maisy Odjick, 16, were last seen Sept. 6 on the Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg First Nation about 145 kilometres north of Ottawa.

Alexander's father, Brian Alexander, said he feels as though "someone ripped my heart out."

He said he thinks something bad must have happened to the two teens, as Shannon left her identification, clothes and backpack behind.

"Where would they go without any ID, or even clothing?" he asked Tuesday.

He added that Shannon had enrolled to study nursing at a trade school in Mont-Laurier this fall.

Kitigan Zibi police Cpl. Francis McDougall, said teens on the reserve sometimes leave Friday and come back Saturday or Sunday, but it's unusual for them to be missing this long without any word.

Nevertheless, he said there's no evidence to suggest the girls got into trouble.

Police said they received a tip that the girls had gone to Ottawa. Last week, police posted and handed out flyers there.

Meanwhile, members of the community planned another search of the reserve and surrounding area again on Thursday.

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Individual photo of Shannon ALEXANDER:

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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/20.../ott-teens.html

Possible sightings in Ottawa of 2 missing Quebec girls: investigators
'This is living hell,' grandmother of 1 of the teens says
Last Updated: Thursday, October 9, 2008 | 11:10 AM ET
CBC News

There have been reported sightings in the Ottawa area of two teenage girls who went missing from an Algonquin reserve outside Maniwaki, Que., over a month ago, officials said Wednesday.

Investigators from the reserve as well as the RCMP and the Sûreté du Quebec are involved in the search for Maisy Odjick, 16, and Shannon Alexander, 17, as the girls' families continue to appeal to the public for help.

The teens were last seen on the Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg First Nation reserve about 145 km north of Ottawa on Sept 6.

"Lately we've been getting, since we put it out in the news countrywide, … reported sightings of these girls mostly in the Ottawa area," said Gorden Douglas, director of policing on the reserve.

Bryan Alexander, Shannon's father, was the last person to see them – Maisy was going to stay overnight with Shannon at Alexander's apartment.

He left for Ottawa on Sept. 6 to paint his son's house. When he returned to the reserve the next day, he found no sign of either girl, and Shannon had left her identification, wallet and clothes behind.

Police have not ruled out the possibility that the two girls were taken against their will.

But the girls' families have said Maisy and Shannon have a history of leaving their homes unannounced for a few days at a time.

"What concerns me the most is that historically, First Nations girls leave the territories and they get involved in something in the city that's not too healthy for them – a lifestyle that could probably lead to something worse, and that's what we want to stop before it gets any worse," said Douglas.

Meanwhile, Lisa Odjick expressed hope Wednesday that her granddaughter, Maisy, will reach out to her family.

"This is living hell," Lisa Odjick, Maisy's grandmother, said Wednesday. "I keep hoping [Maisy will] call to at least let me know that she's alive."

[Guard Dog]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009...g-maniwaki.html

Mother criticizes police in search for missing Maniwaki teens
Last Updated: Thursday, April 23, 2009 | 4:40 PM ET

The mother of a girl from Maniwaki, Que., who has been missing since September says police haven't done enough to solve her daughter's disappearance.

Laurie Odjick's daughter Maisy, 16, and her friend Shannon Alexander, 17, have been missing from the Kitigan Zibi First Nation, about 145 kilometres north of Ottawa, since Sept. 6, 2008.

Since the girls' disappearance, Odjick said she has been the one to organize most of the search parties because police have always thought the girls ran away.

Odjick said that she'll set out on yet another search on May 2.

"Police here in Ontario are amazing when things happen like that. You know, Amber Alerts, they canvass, they have air searches. And for us, there was nothing," said Odjick.

"I'm not a very happy person because from the beginning nothing was done for these girls. Nothing," she said.

McDougall said Kitigan Zibi police continue to investigate the teens' disappearance with the help of the Sûreté du Québec.

"There were indications that they were leaving," said Cpl. Francis McDougall, assistant chief of the Kitigan Zibi police. "Their emails said they were leaving, they were going elsewhere."

But police are still puzzled by the fact the girls left behind their bankcards and identification and by the fact that they don't seem to have taken any clothing with them, he said.

"That's very puzzling, very puzzling that they left their stuff behind," said McDougall.

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Additional photo of Shannon Alexander care of www.missingnativewomen.org:

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[PorchlightCanada]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009...r-maniwaki.html

Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander last seen Sept. 6, 2008
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 | 5:59 PM ET Comments10Recommend38.
CBC News
Maisy Odjick, left, and Shannon Alexander, right, disappeared after saying they planned to go to a dance together and then stay over at Alexander's home. (Courtesy of the Odjick and Alexander families)The disappearance of two teenage girls in Maniwaki, Que., one year ago has left a painful void in their families and their small Algonquin community.

Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander were last seen on Sept. 6, 2008. At the time, Odjick was 16 and Alexander was 17.

A year later, Odjick's clothes, her flute, her camera and treasured photos are still where she left them at the home of her grandparents, where she usually stayed.

"I've kept everything the way it was when she left here, when she disappeared … hoping that she'll come home or that she'll call and let me know that she's alive somewhere," her grandmother Lisa Odjick said, wiping tears from her cheeks. "Not knowing if she's alive or dead, that's the hardest thing."

Quebec provincial police declined to comment earlier this week about the case, but they were scheduled to hold a news conference about it in Ottawa with the Ontario Provincial Police on Thursday morning.

At Lisa Odjick's cream-coloured bungalow on the Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg First Nation reserve, about 145 kilometres north of Ottawa, there is still a pillow on the arm of the brown fold-out couch where Maisy slept, and her clothes are still in the white cupboard in the corner. Her family got a cake for her last birthday and put gifts under the tree for her at Christmas in case she came home, her grandmother recalled.

"But she didn't come home. Now another birthday's coming up and she's going to be 18, and still no word," her grandmother sobbed. "And it's hard. It's so hard."

On Sunday, a march and candlelight vigil will be held to commemorate the girls' disappearance, organized by Maisy's mother, Laurie Odjick.

At an off-reserve apartment in nearby Maniwaki, Shannon Alexander's father Bryan said he has been waiting by the phone for months, hoping someone who knows the girls' whereabouts will call.

"My whole family's torn up," he said.

Girls were heading to dance
'Not knowing if she's alive or dead, that's the hardest thing,' says Maisy's grandmother Lisa Odjick. (Simon Gardner/CBC)Lisa Odjick said nothing seemed amiss when she last saw Maisy, who was heading out to a dance with her friend on Saturday night.

"She was all happy when she left here with Shannon," Odjick recalled, saying the girls were very close.

Odjick asked Maisy to call on Sunday, but grew worried when she didn't hear from her. She went over to Bryan Alexander's place, where the girls had planned to spend the night.

Alexander said he had originally left for the weekend to paint Shannon's brother's house, but returned a day early.

"I was spooked, there was no answer in the house," he said.

He found the doors locked and the dog outside. Inside, the girls had left their purses, their wallets, their identification, their backpacks — even Shannon's medication. But the girls themselves where nowhere to be found.

During the past year, the two families have heard rumours about what might have happened to the two girls — possible sightings in Ottawa and Montreal, for example — but neither the Quebec provincial police nor the Kitigan Zibi police have reported much progress in their investigations.

$13,000 reward
'My daughter would call me all the time,' says Shannon's father, Bryan Alexander. 'Even if she ran away, she would call me.' (Simon Gardner/CBC)Nor have any substantial tips come in through a website set up by some relatives in an effort to find the girls, Laurie Odjick said.

That is despite the fact that the public has donated close to $13,000 to reward anyone with information.

In May, a set of bones was found near the reserve. Bryan Alexander said his mother almost had a heart attack when it was suggested they might belong to the two missing girls. They turned out to be animal remains.

Both families have expressed dissatisfaction with the police investigation.

Laurie Odjick said she organized the initial searches for the girls when police didn't.

"They never even offered to help," she alleged. "Everything that has been done so far has been done by the family .… I don't think it was high on their priority list."

Odjick said police were slow to investigate and not thorough.

"There was no search team, there was no forensics team in that apartment, there was no questioning of the parents," she said.

She added that there was also jurisdictional wrangling that initially had the Quebec provincial police probing Shannon's disappearance and the reserve police probing Maisy's in separate files.

Running away, abduction possible
The families have heard from police that there is evidence that the girls may have run away. However, last fall, investigators would not rule out the possibility that the girls were taken against their will. Bryan Alexander said he thinks the girls were abducted.

Both the Odjicks and Bryan Alexander pointed to the fact that the girls left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, leaving behind even their identification and their most treasured possessions, such as Maisy's photos of her brother and sister.

"For her to leave without those, it's inconceivable to me, because she took those everywhere with her," Lisa Odjick recalled.

The families have said in the past that the girls would sometimes leave for a few days at a time. But both girls also seemed happy and had not indicated any plans or reasons to leave at the time they disappeared, their families said.

Shannon had been planning to start nursing school the month after she disappeared. Her father said he had already paid her tuition. In any case, the girls would have called if they could, their families said.

"My daughter would call me all the time," Bryan Alexander recalled. "Even if she ran away, she would call me: 'Daddy, I ran away, I'm just down the road, I'm over here.' Know what I mean? That's the type of girl she was. It didn't matter if she was across the street. If it was more than 10 minutes, she'd call me."

Laurie Odjick said she hopes police are right and the girls did run away.

"''Cause that means they're still out there. But as a mom, it doesn't make sense 'cause that's not [like] my child."

She said the hardest part is having to continue living and working and looking after her other kids as usual without knowing what happened to Maisy.

"My biggest fear … is that I might never know."

[tatertot]

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Missing+girls...8837/story.html

Missing girls believed to be alive
Police search focuses on Ontario
By Neco Cockburn, The Ottawa Citizen
September 3, 2009

Investigators believe two native girls missing for a year from the Maniwaki area are alive, although it has been several months since they received a tip regarding the girls’ whereabouts.

Maisy Odjick, 17, and Shannon Alexander, 18, have been missing from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation-Maniwaki area since Sept. 6, 2008. Their disappearance was reported a few days later.

Police have turned their search efforts to Ontario, since most tips received involved potential sightings in Ottawa, Kingston and Saugeen Shores on Lake Huron, where Odjick has family.

Investigators hoped a news conference Thursday marking the anniversary of the disappearance will result in more tips, since none have been received for about eight months.

“It’s certainly not a cold case. It’s always been active,” said Chief Gorden McGregor of the Kitigan Zibi Police Department, which is investigating with Ontario Provincial Police and Sûreté du Québec.

McGregor said as tips have slowed down, the search has been scaled back in order to save resources in his department, which has eight officers, including the chief.

At one time, the file was handled full-time by one of McGregor’s officers, but the officer is now working the case on a part-time basis, with as many as eight Sûreté du Québec officers, depending on the information received, McGregor said.

Other forces, including Ottawa police, have been contacted to look into possible sightings, and OPP joined the case in October, after a potential sighting was reported in Saugeen Shores.

Hundreds of tips were received and followed up, according to investigators. However, none of the sightings has been confirmed. The tips indicated that the girls were seen together, said Capt. Jacques Piché of the Sûreté du Québec.

Piché said there is no information to suggest that the girls are not alive. Nor is there evidence of an abduction, he said.

“We have no proof in that sense, so we are considering this case as a disappearance. We are not eliminating anything, we are covering all bases,” said Piché .

OPP Det.-Insp. Chris Gilpin said it is “very unusual” for two girls to go missing together, but “to not have contact with their families for long periods of time, that does happen on occasion.”

The girls’ families have been frustrated by a lack of clues, as well as the police response to the case.

Maisy Odjick’s mother, Laurie Odjick, attended the news conference and told reporters that officers could have done more in the early stages of the investigation.

“From the beginning, from the very first press conference we had, they were labeled as runaways,” she said. “I think that big label that was put there made things a lot harder and a lot slower.”

Police did not look at family computers for six weeks, she said. During the news conference, McGregor said it was three or four weeks before police looked at the computers.

“We didn’t think about it at that time ... we were following up the tips and stuff,” he said, adding there was no evidence of luring on the computers.

Odjick has also questioned the co-ordination between the two police forces that were initially involved in the case.

The Kitigan Zibi Police Department and the Sûreté du Québec opened separate files because Maisy Odjick comes from the reserve and Alexander’s home is in Maniwaki.

McGregor said investigators from both forces worked closely together from the start. “From the beginning, it was never a question of jurisdiction. It was never a question of the colour of uniform, the colour of the skin. It’s a matter of trying to find the girls,” he said.

Maisy Odjick is six feet tall and 125 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. She has two piercings in her bottom lip and one in her left nostril, and scars on top of her right eyebrow and left forearm.

Alexander is five-foot-nine, 145 pounds, with brown eyes and dark brown hair. She has acne and pierced ears. She often wears a silver necklace with a feather on it, and has a scar on her left knee.

A vigil for the girls will be held on the Kitigan Zibi reserve on Sunday at 7 p.m. Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Information Centre at 1-800-659-4264 or OPP at 1-888-310-1122.