‘These children are part of our community’
RCMP mum on Cassidy Bernard death investigation
All they know is that Mya Mae and Paisley Jean Bernard will grow up without their mother.
It will be years before the infant twins are able to ask the question haunting the We’koqma’q (formerly Waycobah) First Nation.
What happened to Cassidy Bernard?
Why was the 22-year-old found dead in her home on Highway 105 on the morning of Oct. 24 with her two healthy children?
“The babies have been looking around for her and it’s so hard knowing that these babies will have to go through life without their mom,” a family member of Bernard who didn’t want her name used told The Chronicle Herald.
“It’s hard because we want answers as to what happened to our Cassidy.”
The RCMP have been tightlipped — saying that they don’t believe her death was a “random act.”
“We’re waiting on the medical examiner’s report before we are able to confirm publicly whether it was a homicide,” Cpl. Jennifer Clarke said Monday.
“That will probably be a matter of weeks rather than days.”
In the meantime, rumours swirl in the Cape Breton community of just under a thousand souls.
“That happens when people don’t have solid information,” said Chief Rod Googoo.
“Until the community and family have solid answers, I’d ask everyone to be mindful and respect the Bernard family and their loss and not get caught up in rumors. Those are the last things the family needs to hear.”
Googoo said that the RCMP’s major crimes unit is investigating the case “aggressively,” interviewing people and reviewing video.
“I’m quite confident justice will be served for Cassidy and her family,” he said.
On Saturday, Bernard’s wide community of friends and family gathered inside Blessed St. Katari Parish Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church to remember her.
Those who knew her said the young woman loved her family, her Mi’kmaq language and had eased gracefully into her new role as a mother.
“When she became a mom, those girls became her life,” a family member told The Chronicle Herald.
“She loved every minute of parenting and managed the twins with ease.”
Beyond photos and the memories of those who knew their mother, Paisley Jean and Mya Mae will have a video of Cassidy singing them The Itsy Bitsy Spider in Mi’kmaq.
But they won’t have her there to hold them when they need it.
“These children are part of our community fibre so this is where they will stay and where they will be raised,” said Googoo.