A Manitoba woman who has been missing since 2023 has been found dead, according to her family.
The family of Leah Keeper and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said during a Wednesday afternoon news conference in Winnipeg that they were told by police the woman has been found.
“This is very sad news for our community,” AMC Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said during the news conference.
Keeper, a mother of two, was a member of Sagkeeng First Nation and 32 years old at the time of her disappearance.
She was last seen on July 25, 2023 near Salter Avenue and Selkirk Street in Winnipeg.
Keeper was reported missing to Winnipeg police on Nov. 21, 2023, and was the subject of several searches in the city.
“We made posters, we did all the things we could do,” said Marilyn Courchene, a relative of Keeper.
Later Wednesday, Winnipeg police released more information on the discovery of Keeper’s remains.
According to police, partial human remains were found in a rear lane in the 600 block of Selkirk Avenue, and were investigated as a suspicious death. DNA testing, including samples from Keeper’s children, were used to help positively identify her remains.
Courchene said Keeper will be missed by her family and the wider community. She said Keeper was training to be a nursing assistant, but also struggled with addiction.
“Leah mattered,” Coucherne said.
Courchene said Keeper’s remains were discovered in the 600 block of Pritchard Avenue in late 2025, and said DNA from her children was used to help identify her.
‘It shakes the foundation of the community’
Sagkeeng First Nation Chief E.J. Fontaine said Keeper’s death underscores the seriousness of the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and said his community has been heavily impacted.
“Every time we hear of one of our women being impacted by that phenomena, it hurts even more,” he said.
Fontaine added, “It shakes the foundation of the community.”
Courchene said the family is unhappy with how Winnipeg police have handled the announcement about the discovery of Keeper’s remains, claiming it was going to be announced in a news release.
“I said it doesn’t feel like it’s humane at all,” she said.
In a news release sent Wednesday afternoon, police said Police Chief Gene Bowers is in the process of reaching out to community leaders.
“Our thoughts are with Leah’s family and loved ones, as well as the Indigenous community,” states the release.
Keeper’s death remains under investigation and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 204-986-6058 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.
