2 years after Mary Papatsie disappeared, family seeks closure
The family of a missing Inuk woman will hold a memorial service for her on Saturday, more than two years after she was last seen.
Mary Papatsie, an Inuk woman who'd been living in Ottawa, was last seen near Montreal Road and Marier Street east of the city's downtown on April 27, 2017.
The Ottawa Police Service's major crime unit took over the file two and a half months later, and in September 2017 announced it had deemed her disappearance suspicious.
Her niece Charlotte Lee said it has been difficult for the family because they don't know if Papatsie is alive.
"In my culture, if you don't have some sort of closure, it's believed something bad will happen in the family again or someone will like get really sick," Lee said.
"We're not going to give up. We're still going to look for her. We're still going to advocate for her."
Papatsie has 10 children and one grandchild, Lee said. She hopes that the family can raise awareness about Papatsie's disappearance and that someone might come forward.
"She has family that loves and cares about her. All we want is answers," she said.
Family will be coming from Nunavut and other parts of Ontario, Lee said.
Her brother had previously told CBC News that Papatsie, the youngest of eight siblings, had been an easygoing young woman who'd been working in the North assisting doctors and nurses until she was sexually assaulted about 15 years ago.
She then moved to Ottawa, where she was living on the streets at the time of her disappearance.
Papatsie, who would now be 41, is described as standing between five feet two and five feet three inches tall, weighing about 140 to 160 pounds, with long, straight brown hair.
She has a small scar above her left eye from a piercing, police said at the time of her disappearance.
Frustration over investigation
Lee said she's frustrated with the police investigation.
"I feel like they could've done a lot more. They could've gotten word out more," she said.
That frustration is shared by many families of missing Indigenous women, according to Families of Sisters in Spirit organizer Bridget Tolley.
She said she had hoped the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls would've done more for the issue.
"For me, it's been always about the police investigations and the way they were investigated, the way families are treated — not knowing what's going on," Tolley said from her home in Kitigan Zibi, an Algonquin community north of Ottawa-Gatineau.
Police say search continues
When CBC News requested an interview with an investigator involved in the search for Papatsie, the Ottawa Police Service simply issued a brief statement.
"The investigation continues. Investigators are still seeking any information that could assist in finding Mary Papatsie. All tips are pursued and every lead is investigated," wrote Const. Chuck Benoit, a police spokesperson.
Saturday's service — followed by a community gathering and a feast — takes place from 2 p.m until 7 p.m. at the Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre on Des Pères-Blancs Avenue.
