Family of a Pimicikamak Cree Nation member who went missing a few days after returning to Winnipeg from Cross Lake searched for her with the help of the Bear Clan Patrol Sept. 18.
Jessie McKay, 22, spent the summer working in Cross Lake and then returned to Winnipeg at the end of August. On Sept. 5, her father dropped her off at a birthday party. She phoned her sister at 10 p.m. that night to say she was going to bring her some cake but never showed up.
“No family or friends have heard from her since then,” her uncle Christopher Ross said during a Sept. 17 press conference organized by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 Northern Manitoba First Nations.
“We just want … Jessie to come home,” said Ross.
McKay is 4’11’ tall with dyed blond hair. Anyone with information about her can contact Ross at 204-997-4691 or the Winnipeg Police Service’s missing persons unit.
MKO missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls liaison unit director Hilda Anderson-Pryz said it is difficult for family from Cross Lake to afford to travel to and stay in Winnipeg while searching for their missing relative and that anyone who wishes to make donations should get in touch with Ross.
“It’s a very difficult journey when your loved one’s missing and everyone’s praying that it’s a positive outcome,” Anderson-Pyrz said during Friday’s press conference.
