The body of an Indigenous woman has been found in a Manitoba landfill where a suspected serial killer allegedly deposited at least one of his Indigenous victims. The body of Linda Mary Beardy, a 33-year-old mother of four from Lake St. Martin First Nation, was discovered by staff members at Winnipeg's Brady landfill on Monday, the Guardian reports. However, authorities don't believe Beardy's death is linked to the suspected serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, who's been in jail for nearly a year. Beardy's body is believed to have been found shortly after it was dumped by a garbage truck. "From the time that these remains were left at or located at the Brady landfill was probably a matter of a couple of hours," Inspector Shawn Pike said Tuesday, per the Canadian Press.
"This is devastating news," said Jerry Daniels, grand chief of the Southern Chiefs' Organization. "In December, we asked that the Brady landfill be classified as an active crime scene. Only a few months later and we are hearing of one of our sacred women being located in this space." Skibicki was arrested in May around the time that partial remains of Rebecca Contois were found at the landfill. Police believe he killed three other Indigenous women—Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified victim given the name Buffalo Woman—but their remains haven't been found. Police suspect Harris and Myran's remains are in the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg, though officers initially said it was unfeasible to search the privately run site after so much garbage was deposited there.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has since joined police, forensic experts, and city officials to prepare a feasibility study. The group says it's confident it will show a search and recovery is viable. Some family members of victims have demanded a search of the Brady landfill, too. "We were here only a couple of months ago. And here we are again. It keeps happening over and over and over ... this absolute disregard for Indigenous women's lives," provincial lawmaker Nahanni Fontaine said, per the Guardian. Police view Beardy's death as suspicious. The mother of four was living in Winnipeg but hadn't been reported missing, per CTV News. "We have no information to suggest that there are any other victims, or that this investigation is related to any previous incidents," Pike said, per the Canadian Press. (More Canada stories.)