Bones may be connected to missing girls

By BETH JOHNSTON, SUN MEDIA

The Ottawa Sun





Maisy Odjick (right), 17, and Shannon Alexander, 18, disappeared without a trace on Sept. 5, 2008.

OTTAWA -- The families of two Maniwaki teens missing since September are anxiously awaiting lab results to find out if bones found nearby are human.

An elderly Maniwaki couple on their way to Mt. Laurier found the bones Saturday evening beside Route 107 near Hwy. 117 in Grand-Remous, 170 km north of Ottawa.

The spot is about a half hour's drive from Maniwaki.

The couple called Kitigan Zibi police because they immediately thought of Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander, the two teens who went missing nearly eight months ago.

Surete du Quebec police guarded the scene overnight Saturday until investigators from Montreal could remove the bones and photograph the scene Sunday.

The bones have been sent to a Montreal lab for analysis.


COULD BE ANIMAL

"We don't know if they're human. If it's human we're going to find out which human they are, and if they're animal, it stops there," said Sgt. Marc Butz.

The entire community of Maniwaki has been on alert since Maisy Odjick, 17, and Shannon Alexander, 18, disappeared without a trace Sept. 5, 2008.

Yesterday, Maisy Odjick's mother Laurie Odjick was trying to keep herself busy, spring cleaning her junk room to keep her mind off the possibility the bones came from her daughter's body.

"I'm scared. I'm really scared," she said. "It could be anything right? I'm praying that it's just an animal."

Odjick was disappointed she learned of the find through reporters. When she talked to police, they told her it wasn't a full skeleton, but what looked like a leg bone.

"If they were buried somewhere, they could have been dug up by an animal," she said. "There were cops there who were hunters and they couldn't even tell what it was."

She plans to stay away from where the bones were found until she gets the call with lab results, saying it would be "too much to handle."

"I have to keep my mind busy, I am keeping my phones charged, I am just going to stay home with my family in case it's bad news," she said.

Kitigan-Zibi police said yesterday they'd notified Shannon and Maisy's parents about the bones.

But Shannon's father, Bryan Alexander was angry yesterday, claiming reporters told him about the grim discovery.

"They don't tell us s---," he said. "I'm just so pissed. So pissed and frustrated.

"Two beautiful girls disappear and no one knows about it, how could that be?"

Maria Jacko, a friend who set up the Find Maisy and Shannon website, said the waiting is the hardest part.

"It's going to be a long couple of days before they give us answers," she said. "I hope it's not them, but I know there's a strong possibility that it is."

BETH.JOHNSTON@SUNMEDIA.CA
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/05...429946-sun.html

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