NORTH BATTLEFORD - One of the family members of missing North Battleford woman Ashley Morin is organizing a candlelight vigil for area Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) to raise awareness.
The event will take place on May 5 at 8 p.m. at Central Park, located outside the North Battleford Library.
Organizer Angela Odgers, a cousin of Morin's, is planning the event.
She wants people to remember that these individuals are still missing. She hopes the event helps raise awareness that families of missing and murdered Indigenous people are still waiting for answers.
"I want these people's faces kept out there," she said. "I don't care where a person comes from, what their background is. How they ended up missing or murdered, that is my concern."
Ashley Morin went missing in North Battleford in July of 2018, when she was 31 years old.
Some other members of Morin's family will also be attending the vigil.
The family of murdered Saskatoon woman Megan Gallagher will be represented, although the family is unable to attend in person.
Gallagher went missing in Saskatoon in September of 2020, and four months later the Saskatoon Police Service said they were treating her disappearance as a homicide. On Sept. 29, 2022, Saskatoon Police Service along the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Saskatchewan River near St. Louis. The discovery was made within hours on the first day of their scheduled four-day search. They were identified as Megan Gallagher.
Families and supporters of other missing and murdered Indigenous people also plan to take part.
Odgers has about 20 candles for families so far, focusing the event on MMIP's families from the Battlefords and surrounding area.
"My concern is the families of these people, they deserve to know what happened, who did this, why they did this?" she said.
"I think if we can get everybody together, it might help some of these families know what the next step is, what to do, where to go, who to talk to," Odgers added.
- With files from Lisa Joy
