Two charged in connection with death of missing woman
Police are working on confirming the identity of human remains — believed to be those of Jenaya Mary Wapemoose — located northeast of Regina on the weekend. Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray held a news scrum on Monday afternoon where he addressed the recent find and the investigation to date.
“Our condolences to the family of Jenaya Wapemoose,” he said. “This has obviously been a very tough few months for the family and friends of Jenaya.”
Two people made brief court appearances Monday morning, two days after the remains were found.
Eric Lee Alvin Kakakaway, 23, is facing a second-degree murder charge, accused of causing the death of 22-year-old Wapemoose on April 7 — the date police said the young woman was last active on social media. Eric is additionally charged with committing an indignity to a body on the same date.
A 30-year-old woman, Jeannette Mavis Kakakaway, is accused of being an accessory after the fact to murder. She also faces outstanding, unrelated breach charges. Jeannette’s accessory charge relates to an allegation she assisted Eric — whose relationship to her was unclear, other than that they are believed to be related — by “enabling him to escape” on April 7.
While appearing at Regina Provincial Court via CCTV from the Regina jail, Eric answered, “Yeah,” to questions from Judge Marylynne Beaton as to whether he understood the charges and if he wanted help from a lawyer. He will remain in custody until his next appearance on Nov. 4.
Jeannette, appearing later in the morning in the court’s prisoner’s box, was also set over to Nov. 4 after she too requested help from Legal Aid. The Crown opposed her release from custody.
Bray said Jenaya and the accused were known to each other, although he didn’t say how.
According to police, Jenaya was last seen on the 1800 block of Ottawa Street on March 10, although she remained active on social media for a few weeks afterward.
She was reported missing on May 7. On June 27, the Regina Police Service said the case was being considered suspicious based on evidence gathered during an “extensive investigation.”
INVESTIGATIVE WORK
Bray told reporters on Monday that investigators had reached a point “where they were going to be able to lay the charge regardless of locating a (deceased) person.”
“Over the last month, we’ve made some very significant, positive steps forward in the investigation, and ultimately I would say this weekend we saw the positive results of that investigative work resulting in two charges being laid and the location of a person who we believe to be Jenaya,” he said.
Bray was unable to speak to details of the investigation, including how police were led to the remains.
He said the autopsy is expected to be completed within the week, and that police are looking at different types of techniques that could help confirm identity. Confirmation of identity will be completed through the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service and the city police Forensic Identification Unit, police said.
Members of Wapemoose’s family — notified by police of the find — were present in court on Monday, and a gasp sounded from one of them as Eric’s charges were read aloud by the judge.
The family did not wish to speak with reporters following court.
During the months Jenaya was missing, her sister Jackie Wapemoose said numerous people called her with tips on where Jenaya might be, but she said those leads, although passed along to police, didn’t turn anything up. Family and friends hung posters around the city to try to keep their loved one in people’s minds.
“I feel like everything is pointing like she is gone, but I keep telling myself she’s stronger than that and I know she would fight to stay here, fight to be alive,” Jackie said in June. “I just want them to find her. I feel like truly she’s still here alive. I don’t want to think something bad happened to her.”
Bray noted there has been a lot of effort on the part of both the community and the police in the search. He thanked police partners as well as community members, including the Cowessess First Nation where Jenaya was originally from.
“This is a very tough time for our community,” he said. “This is tough when we’re looking for someone, a loved one, someone who’s missing from our community, and we’re not able through investigative processes to find that person in a very quick time.”