Keepness family holds out hope for girl’s return
Fourteen years to the day after Tamra Keepness’ disappearance, hundreds of community members gathered at Regina’s Core Community Park on Thursday afternoon for a barbecue to mark the anniversary.
Five-year-old Tamra was last seen in her home on the 1800 block of Ottawa Street on the evening of July 5, 2004, and was discovered missing the next morning.
Many still have hope that Tamra will one day return home.
“The reason that we held this picnic is to let people know that we’re still looking and that we’re still hoping that God will let her come home to us sometime,” said Ellen Keewatin, Tamra’s grandmother.
“We hold on to hope. We haven’t found anything of her remains, so … I’m holding on to hope that Tamra will be found soon,” she said. “She’s only five when she went missing and she’s 19 now. She must be a beautiful young girl.”
I’m glad that we have this reminder; keeps us focused on why we’re here. And it’s not just a picnic, it’s not just visiting. It’s for Tamra.
Troy Keepness, Tamra’s father, was also at the event. “It’s a long time,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I don’t know. I’m just … it’s been a while.”
He said he remembers innocence when he thinks of his daughter, and how that was taken from her.
Family friend Maxine Goforth has an idea of what the family is going through. Her daughter, Kelly, went missing on September 23, 2013, and was found dead two days later in a trash bin.
Goforth said she is grateful that she was able to bury her daughter, and hopes for positive closure to her friends’ story.
“There’s always hope, and we have to keep on hoping because that was someone’s baby, someone’s child,” she said.
“It’s been, oh my gosh, a rollercoaster of emotions,” she said of supporting the family through the years. “It’d be awesome for Tamra to come strolling along to the barbecue.”
Members of the Regina Police Service volunteered at the event, and Deputy Chief Dean Rae said Tamra’s case is still an active investigation, although police aren’t receiving many tips anymore.
“It’s events like today where we bring profile to the disappearance of Tamra,” said Rae. “By raising profile, by discussing it, having our community involved, we’re hoping that somebody will come forward with some information that’ll allow us to work on this.”
He said the case is assigned to a cold case investigator, who is continually looking at new information.
Thoughts also turned to the many other cases like Tamra’s involved in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls national inquiry.
Vernon Bellegarde, event chair and board member at Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services Inc., said this event serves as a good reminder.
“I think this event is a reminder that not just Tamra is missing. There’s so many other of our people with the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls that are on the books,” he said.
For Keewatin, it’s important that the memory of Tamra remains strong.
“I’m glad that we have this reminder; keeps us focused on why we’re here. And it’s not just a picnic, it’s not just visiting. It’s for Tamra,” she said.
“We want her found. We want to see her home where she belongs.”