'Not an easy task': Police begin 'meticulous' search at Saskatoon landfill in Mackenzie Trottier case
Police officers and cadaver dogs have begun searching the Saskatoon landfill for answers in the Mackenzie Lee Trottier case.
Trottier has been missing for more than three years. She was 22-years-old when she was last seen on Dec. 21, 2020, leaving her family home.
Trottier's father, Paul Trottier, said the landfill is "the last place anybody wants to be" when searching for a loved one.
"This is a long, trying and tiring journey that is not yet finished," the woman's father said.
The landfill search marks the first new lead in the case in over a year.
Each day for next 33 days, 14 officers and two dogs — with specialized training on tracking human remains — will sift through garbage from a dedicated area.
"It's not an easy task. It will be meticulous and it will be draining on the officers, absolutely," Saskatoon police Staff Sgt. Corey Lenius told journalists in front of a tent set up at the landfill.
"It's hard to say what condition anything that we're searching for could be in at this point, based on the time that's passed."
Police are focused on an area approximately 10 metres wide and one meter deep. Excavators spent the past couple weeks removing the layers of garbage in that spot.
Any items of interest will be brought to the tent and further examined by forensic anthropologist Ernie Walker.
(Chad Hills / CTV News)
Police are relying on garbage trucks' GPS to assist their search.
Lenius said officers were led to the landfill "based off evidence we have collected from electronic devices seized throughout the investigation."
"At this time, I am unable to disclose specific details regarding the nature of the investigation to preserve its integrity," Lenius said.
On February 10, 2021, Saskatoon Police released video surveillance footage of a man believed to have information about Trottier's disappearance.
On June 8, 2021, Saskatoon Crime Stoppers released a sketch of the man in the surveillance video.
Trottier's family launched an interprovincial poster campaign and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to her return.
Trottier's father said there was nothing unusual about the last day he saw his daughter.
"There was no animosity, no anger. She was fairly normal on her way out the door. And that was last day we saw her. It was pretty difficult when she didn't come home — especially for Christmas. That was tough," Paul said.
Trottier was looking at pursuing a career in veterinary medicine before she went missing.
Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) Vice President Michelle LeClair offered "sincere thoughts and prayers" to the Trottier family.
"While a search of the landfill is deeply disturbing, MN–S is encouraged that the case has not been forgotten, as is often the situation with our missing and murdered Indigenous peoples," LeClair said.
Because the landfill has the potential to be a crime scene, police are asking people to avoid the area and have banned drone use in the airspace above the search.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING 3 injured after man with knife enters Montreal-area mosque
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Teen arrested in New Brunswick after emergency alert; 5 people in custody
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Police arrest 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole Porsche and ran over its owner
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Woman nearly shut out of mother's estate sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
'We're still pushing hard': Search for missing Manitoba boy continues, RCMP find tracks
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
11-year-old boy dies after subway surfing in NYC
An 11-year-old boy died Monday after subway surfing in New York City. He's the fourth person to die from subway surfing in the city this year.
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Top Hezbollah commander among 12 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and other senior figures in the Lebanese movement in an airstrike on Beirut on Friday, vowing to press on with a new military campaign until it is able to secure the area around the Lebanese border.
'A fake, a phony and a fraud': Heated exchange between Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.