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On a crowded New York City street last summer, Maria Jacko thought she saw her niece, a familiar face in the crowd of people approaching on the sidewalk.
“It looked just like her,” Jacko said. “We were walking past one another when I saw her. I turned around and tried to grab her, but there was so many people there, I just couldn’t … ”
On Tuesday, Jacko applauded the news as the federal government outlined the first phase of a national inquiry into murdered or missing indigenous women — a group that includes her niece, Maisy Odjick, and Maisy’s friend, Shannon Alexander.
It’s been seven years since the girls disappeared from Kitigan Zibi, three hours north of Ottawa near Maniwaki. Seven years with nothing but a trickle of tantalizing clues. Last summer, Maria got a tip on her website, findmaisyandshannon.com, that the two teens had been taken into New York State, a tip that she passed on to authorities.
Did the tip fool Jacko into thinking it was Maisy she saw on that New York street? Or maybe it really was her missing niece, perhaps lured into the sex trade and brainwashed of her past life. Jacko wonders that herself.
Maria Jacko, aunt of Maisy Odjick, welcomed the federal government’s announcement of an inquiry into missing or murdered indigenous women.
“I thought, what if that was her? I wish I would have chased after her, but I just didn’t know for sure.”
It was Sept. 6, 2008, when Maisy, then 16, and Shannon Alexander, 17, disappeared from their homes in Kitigan Zibi. The teens left behind their wallets, purses, clothes and medication. Maisy sent a friend a message on Facebook later that morning. Since then, nothing, just two more names added to the list of more than 1,200 missing or murdered indigenous women in Canada.
“I’ve heard stories,” said Jacko. “That they’re dead in Winnipeg. I hear they’re in Ottawa. I hear they’re in the States. I heard they were up in the bush in Gatineau Park.”
Psychics have told her the bodies were buried a foot deep in the forest, or buried near a lake or “56 miles north of Maniwaki” near a business district. Jacko once brought a metal detector to search land belonging to a convicted sex offender who died in the Hull jail and was rumoured to be connected to the case (a link since discounted by police). Jacko hoped the detector would find Maisy’s nose ring, but the search turned up nothing.
Last week, in an effort to stir up interest in the case, the Sûreté du Québec released new images of the two women, aged to how they might appear today. Maisy’s face is fuller, her dark hair hanging long to her shoulders, her smile and bright eyes revealing her open, fun-loving personality. The image of Shannon is darker, the lines on her face etched deeper, circles beneath her eyes.
“It’s been seven years, but you want to see them as they were, as Maisy was seven years ago,” Jacko said. “It does look like her. It’s hard (to look at), but at the same time it’s good that they did that. ”
Jacko hopes the federal inquiry will ensure other disappearances will be acted upon faster than Shannon and Maisy’s case. At the time, most people — including Jacko herself — assumed the two girls were fine and would show up soon. She got worried when after two days, there had been no word from Maisy.
“I know how close Maisy was to her grandmother, she would never have let a couple of days go without calling here. I knew something bad had happened.
“Maisy was a free spirit. She’d talk to everybody. She had such a fun-loving personality, I could see how she could talk to strangers. She was very naive. I see someone could have just taken them.”
Still, Jacko refuses to give up hope. Nor will she stop her search.
“I strongly believe in the laws of attraction. I’m always thinking about Maisy and Shannon. I believe they’re going to be found. I don’t know if they are dead or alive, I just know that they’re going to be found and I’ll never stop looking. I think it’s just a matter of when.”
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/getBAC
Related
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“It looked just like her,” Jacko said. “We were walking past one another when I saw her. I turned around and tried to grab her, but there was so many people there, I just couldn’t … ”
On Tuesday, Jacko applauded the news as the federal government outlined the first phase of a national inquiry into murdered or missing indigenous women — a group that includes her niece, Maisy Odjick, and Maisy’s friend, Shannon Alexander.
It’s been seven years since the girls disappeared from Kitigan Zibi, three hours north of Ottawa near Maniwaki. Seven years with nothing but a trickle of tantalizing clues. Last summer, Maria got a tip on her website, findmaisyandshannon.com, that the two teens had been taken into New York State, a tip that she passed on to authorities.
Did the tip fool Jacko into thinking it was Maisy she saw on that New York street? Or maybe it really was her missing niece, perhaps lured into the sex trade and brainwashed of her past life. Jacko wonders that herself.
Maria Jacko, aunt of Maisy Odjick, welcomed the federal government’s announcement of an inquiry into missing or murdered indigenous women.
“I thought, what if that was her? I wish I would have chased after her, but I just didn’t know for sure.”
It was Sept. 6, 2008, when Maisy, then 16, and Shannon Alexander, 17, disappeared from their homes in Kitigan Zibi. The teens left behind their wallets, purses, clothes and medication. Maisy sent a friend a message on Facebook later that morning. Since then, nothing, just two more names added to the list of more than 1,200 missing or murdered indigenous women in Canada.
“I’ve heard stories,” said Jacko. “That they’re dead in Winnipeg. I hear they’re in Ottawa. I hear they’re in the States. I heard they were up in the bush in Gatineau Park.”
Psychics have told her the bodies were buried a foot deep in the forest, or buried near a lake or “56 miles north of Maniwaki” near a business district. Jacko once brought a metal detector to search land belonging to a convicted sex offender who died in the Hull jail and was rumoured to be connected to the case (a link since discounted by police). Jacko hoped the detector would find Maisy’s nose ring, but the search turned up nothing.
Last week, in an effort to stir up interest in the case, the Sûreté du Québec released new images of the two women, aged to how they might appear today. Maisy’s face is fuller, her dark hair hanging long to her shoulders, her smile and bright eyes revealing her open, fun-loving personality. The image of Shannon is darker, the lines on her face etched deeper, circles beneath her eyes.
“It’s been seven years, but you want to see them as they were, as Maisy was seven years ago,” Jacko said. “It does look like her. It’s hard (to look at), but at the same time it’s good that they did that. ”
Jacko hopes the federal inquiry will ensure other disappearances will be acted upon faster than Shannon and Maisy’s case. At the time, most people — including Jacko herself — assumed the two girls were fine and would show up soon. She got worried when after two days, there had been no word from Maisy.
“I know how close Maisy was to her grandmother, she would never have let a couple of days go without calling here. I knew something bad had happened.
“Maisy was a free spirit. She’d talk to everybody. She had such a fun-loving personality, I could see how she could talk to strangers. She was very naive. I see someone could have just taken them.”
Still, Jacko refuses to give up hope. Nor will she stop her search.
“I strongly believe in the laws of attraction. I’m always thinking about Maisy and Shannon. I believe they’re going to be found. I don’t know if they are dead or alive, I just know that they’re going to be found and I’ll never stop looking. I think it’s just a matter of when.”
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/getBAC
Related
- Liberals launch first phase of inquiry into missing, murdered indigenous women
- Trudeau calls for renewal of relationship with First Nations
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