Monday marked 12 years of a northern Manitoba family pushing for justice and answers in the death of their beloved son, father and nephew.
Jeremy Saunders, 29, was found dead outside a home in Ilford, Man. — a community more than 700 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg — on April 8, 2012, in what police say was a homicide. But to date, no one has been charged in his death.
“I just pray that someday the truth will come out and justice will be served,” said his aunt, Janet Flett. “The family needs closure.”
Flett organized the “Justice for Jeremy” walk last month to honour her nephew. Community members walked about 35 kilometres from York Landing, Saunders’s home community, to the home where he was found in 2012, where a vigil was held.
“It was very emotional during the whole walk … and walking into Ilford and getting to that spot where he lost his life,” Flett said.
Saunders’s five sons — one of whom was just a baby when his father died — were there, and they needed this support from everyone, Flett said.
“I was very happy to see support from the community,” Flett said. “When the community comes together and you have their support, you feel that strength and that love from everybody.”
Saunders’s children want to know why he died and who killed him, said Flett.
“He adored his children,” she said. “His sons were his life and … they’re growing up without him.”
Flett remembered Jeremy as a “fun-loving young nephew,” who was a fisherman, hunter and trapper, and was also involved in sports like baseball.
She hopes the walk raises awareness and pushes someone to come forward with information about his death.
The March 7 walk was also a time for the community to come together, she said. The family carried posters with her nephew’s photo, accompanied by the chief and council, community members and elders.
They held a prayer before the walk and finished the day with a church service and community feast.
‘We haven’t forgotten’
Martina Saunders, Jeremy’s cousin, watched her younger cousin grow up. She also said the family needs to know what happened to him.
After 12 years, “we haven’t given up. We haven’t forgotten,” she said.
Saunders says the investigation has been complicated because the family has been in limited contact with RCMP over the years. When the investigation first began the family felt more in the loop, but now it feels like it’s tapered off, she said.
“We want this investigation to be active,” Saunders said. “We want a resolution. We want to know who’s responsible for Jeremy’s death.”
The family is planning another walk next year to keep pushing for a deeper investigation into her nephew’s death, Flett said. She hopes it will become an annual event until they have answers, because they don’t want his death to become a cold case.
RCMP say their major crime services continues to investigate Jeremy Saunders’s homicide.
Officers recently met with York Factory First Nation’s chief and council and a family representative about the investigation, an RCMP spokesperson told CBC in a statement Wednesday.
“Investigators want nothing more than to provide answers to Jeremy’s family and the community and will continue to work towards that,” the statement said.
Police are asking anyone who has information in the case to call Gillam RCMP at 204-652-2436, or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 or by leaving a secure tip online at manitobacrimestoppers.com.
Martina Saunders said the family has met with and written to the RCMP. Police have spoken about reconciliation and wanting to build relationships, “and wanting to know what has happened,” she said.
“We have those questions too. What have they been doing for 12 years?”