Charges laid in death of city woman missing since May
NORTH BATTLEFORD, SASK. RCMP in Saskatchewan say they have laid charges against two people in the death of a missing Edmonton woman.
Shayla Orthner, 27, of North Battleford, has been charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, improperly interfering with a human body and theft of a motor vehicle.
Police said Tuesday Danita Thomas, 32, of North Battleford, faces counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, improperly interfering with a human body and theft of a motor vehicle.
The charges are related to the death of Tiki Brook-lyn Laverdiere whose remains were found last week by a police dog in a rural area outside North Battleford as part of an investigation into her disappearance two months earlier.
Thomas is to make a court appearance in North Battleford provincial court on Wednesday.
Police say the investigation is ongoing. Laverdiere was reported missing May 12. At the time, RCMP said Laverdiere had been visiting the North Battleford and Thunderchild First Nation areas to attend a funeral on April 27. After the funeral, she reportedly said she wanted to go back to Edmonton, but wasn’t heard from after she last had contact with her family on May 1.
On July 12, Laverdiere’s family joined the family of missing woman Ashley Morin on a walk in Saskatoon to raise awareness about the two unrelated disappearances.
The Morin family was there for her family after Laverdiere’s disappearance, Carol Laverdiere said, adding people need to know about what is happening to Indigenous women. Morin was last seen in July 2018 and RCMP said her disappearance is being treated as a homicide. Officers have found no mobile phone, social media or bank account activity linked to Morin in the past year, RCMP said.