THUNDER BAY – Family and friends gathered Thursday to honour the memory of Tammy Keeash, four days after the body of the 17-year-old was found near the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway.
A memorial vigil was held at Chapples Park where the dozens in attendance were given an opportunity to say their final goodbyes.
"It's hard to describe how I'm feeling but I'm trying to stay strong for my kids and my mom," said Pearl Slipperjack, the teen's mother.
The assembled crowd sang songs, lit candles and mourned the death of the teenager. Some left roses where her body was found.
Slipperjack described the turn out as “overwhelming.”
“Everybody in my family is taking it hard. I’m just trying to stay strong for them,” said Slipperjack. “They cry for her at night, they ask for her. I don’t know what to say to them when they ask… I just tell them that she has gone to heaven.”
Keeash was living in a Thunder Bay youth group home at the time of her death. Her death has strengthened calls from Nishnawbe Aski Nation to request an inquest into the deaths of Keeash and three other NAN youth who have died under care in the past six months.
NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler also responded to the death by demanding answers from the Thunder Bay Police Service as to why they did not issue a missing person’s notice following her disappearance.
Keeash's death comes less than a year after an inquest into the death of seven Indigenous students in Thunder Bay between 2001 and 2011 produced a lengthy list of recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.
According to police spokesman Chris Adams, a post-mortem report for Keeash is complete. Results are currently being reviewed and the report is expected to be released on Friday.
