CREIGHTON — Family of 25-year-old Tristin Jobb say she was a smart, capable young woman. Jobb's body was found at Phantom Lake Golf Course near Creightob last week - and those same family members are demanding answers.
Jobb was found unresponsive at the golf course Oct. 6 and RCMP were called to the area around 10:30 a.m. Jobb was reported dead when emergency medical services arrived on scene, according to a Saskatchewan RCMP news release issued Oct. 13 - a full week after her death.
Police are investigating what happened to Jobb, looking for information about her whereabouts in the days and hours leading up to her death. Jobb was seen at the golf course Oct. 5, but investigators are still trying to piece together what happened.
"An autopsy has been ordered and completed by the Saskatchewan Coroners Service (SCC) to investigate the cause of her death. The investigation is still ongoing as police await the results of the toxicology and examine evidence gathered from the scene to determine the circumstances of her death. As this is an SCC investigation, we have no further information to provide at this time," reads the RCMP report.
"Investigators are releasing the deceased’s name as they are asking the public to report any sightings or interactions with Tristin Jobb on October 5."
Anyone with information about Jobb's death can contact Creighton RCMP at (306) 688-8888 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (1-800-222-8477).
Val Charlette, Jobb's mother, was first informed of the death on her way back from working in Pukatawagan, about to fly back home to The Pas.
"I was at the airport and I just happened to check my messages. I saw all these messages from my daughter to call her, a lot of missed Facebook calls and video chats. I was thinking, 'I wonder what's going on, what she needs, because it's kind of normal when she doesn't get a hold of me, she'll just send one message after the other,'" she said.
"I FaceTimed her and I asked her, 'What's going on, my girl? I'm ready to board my plane' - and she was crying. She told me that the RCMP came and told her that they found Tristin at the golf course in Creighton ... she told me again what happened and I was in a state of disbelief. I was in shock. I couldn't believe what my daughter was telling me."
Charlette arrived in Flin Flon later that day and was told Tristin was found deceased. Charlette insisted on being able to personally identify whether or not the person police found was her daughter and was initially met with resistance by authorities, then with delays as a coroner arrived at Flin Flon General Hospital.
"A police officer kept me about 30 feet away from the entrance into the room where she was and the police officer was talking to me and asked me questions - like if she was suicidal or if she was drinking or things like that," Charlette said.
Once a coroner had arrived, Charlette was able to see the body and identified Tristin. She said her daughter's head and neck were bruised and scraped up, mentioning that veins were protruding from her neck.
"I didn't want it to be her - but it was her," she said.
"It looked like she was beaten up."
Both family members and police have identified Jobb - the original Saskatchewan RCMP news release misspelt Jobb's name as "Tristan", incorrectly stated her age was 24 years old and said she was a Flin Flon resident. Charlette told The Reminder that Jobb was not living in the community and, at the time of her death, was living with her and with family in The Pas.
Charlette said Tristin was a kind and gentle soul.
"She was an amazing, amazing girl. She had her struggles but she was one of the kindest people, a very loving cousin - her cousin's children call her 'Auntie' - she just loved the two little girls so much. All the messages that I've been receiving from her friends are saying that she was one of the most compassionate people," she said.
Jobb had been through a lot in the previous year. She had been living in the Nipawin area before she was severely assaulted by someone who came into her home, Charlette said, leading to her moving to The Pas. She was preparing to move to Sturgeon Landing to live with her father and was thinking of possibly moving to Creighton in the future. Jobb also suffered from arthritis, something that wasn't diagnosed until the past year.
"She's very outgoing - had a lot of friends and was a great sister. She loved her sister so much. We know they'd have their sisterly fights and stuff. Sometimes she'd be angry at me for things, but she was a beautiful, beautiful girl. I know she didn't believe in herself, I guess, but she was so smart," said Charlette.
"She was my firstborn, so I was reading to her right away, teaching her how to read and write. In Kindergarten, they'd have the Grade 5s come into the classroom to read with a buddy and the Grade 5s wouldn't know the word, so she would tell them what the words were. She was so smart."
Following Jobb's death, Charlette and her family held a sacred fire near where her body was found - lit on Oct. 6, the fire lasted for four days. Her family stayed at the scene and held vigil, creating a small remembrance area at the rest shelter where she was found.
No arrests or suspects have been named in Jobb's death and no charges have been filed as of Oct. 14. Autopsy results have not shown any physical trauma that could have led to Jobb's death. Results from toxicology tests have not come in.
Charlette said she needs answers for what happened to her daughter and hopes someone will come forward with information.
"I just want to know... how did she get there? That's what I want to know. How did she get out to where she was found?" she asked.
"I am waiting for the toxicology results - I guess we're all waiting for that. How did she get whatever into her system? If she did die from something, who gave it to her? What was it? Why didn't anybody help her? Anybody could have. Usually when someone's wandering around in an area like that, they call the police - did a call go in that the police responded to? That's what I want answered."
Charlette said she and her family had received an outpouring of support from the community, friends, family and the Mobile Crisis Response Team from Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), who have been assisting Charlette and her family in the aftermath. Charlette said her First Nations tradition is one of the things allowing her to grieve the loss of her daughter.
"I think the reality is setting in that she's not coming home," she said.
"My culture is what's keeping me sane right now - my culture and my family and my friends and the MKO team that's here working with me, because I could be off somewhere else in my head, but I'm here. I'm here in this moment, because of my culture and because I sat at that sacred fire for four days, grieving."
Charlette said First Nations belief around death is providing solace for her and her family, adding that she hopes the investigation into what happened to Tristin would give some semblance of closure.
"I have a belief that when a person leaves this world, there's nothing we can do to stop it from happening. That's what I help my clients with when I'm talking to them. I said, 'There was nothing you can do. It was that person's time to leave - there's nothing we can do to stop it. We have no control over how they leave. They're going to leave at that time,'" she said.
"If it's not a person's time, we call it a miracle. If they show up at the hospital with a bunch of knife wounds or gunshots? It wasn't their time to leave yet. That's what's holding me together. I just don't know how she left."
