Morgan Harris: Remains of Canadian serial killer’s victim found in landfill
The remains of an indigenous woman murdered by a serial killer have been found after a search of a landfill in the Canadian province of Manitoba, police say.
Morgan Harris’ remains were recovered at the Prairie Green Landfill, north of the city of Winnipeg, said officials. Authorities had been searching for Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, both of Long Plain First Nation. Police say two sets of remains have been found.
Harris and Myran were among four indigenous women killed in 2022 by convicted murderer Jeremy Skibicki, who dumped their bodies in two different landfills over a three-month span.
The search of the Prairie Green Landfill began late last year following a lengthy pressure campaign by indigenous leaders.
Cambria Harris, Morgan’s daughter, said in a Facebook post on Friday that the discovery of her mother’s remains was a “very bittersweet moment”.
“Please keep our families in your hearts tonight and every day going forward as we trust this process,” the post said.
Police initially declined to search the landfill, and a federal government study concluded that a search could take three years and cost up to C$184m (£100m; $128m), with workers exposed to hazardous chemicals.
Manitoba eventually pledged C$20m to search for the remains – funds that were matched by the federal government.
Skibicki was convicted in July last year of the murders of Harris and Myran, as well as of killing a third woman, Rebecca Contois, 24, of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, and a still-unidentified woman who has been given the name Buffalo Woman.
Their murders went undetected for months until a man looking for scrap metal in a bin outside Skibicki’s apartment found partial human remains, identified as belonging to Ms Contois.
Canada has long faced a crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. According to the RCMP, indigenous women make up 10% of the population of missing women in Canada and 16% of female homicides. Indigenous women make up about 4% of the female population in Canada.
