Mother taunted through Facebook over her son’s unexplained death
Man’s body was found in burned car, but police say there were no signs of foul play
RCMP said Thursday their investigation has so far found no evidence to indicate that the death of a Saskatchewan man whose body was found in a burnt-out car was a homicide.
Brennan Ahenakew’s remains were discovered on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation in central Saskatchewan on May 10.
Ahenakew’s family has said the 20-year-old met with foul play, but RCMP say the initial findings of an autopsy, along with their investigation, show no sign of criminal involvement in his death.
RCMP spokesman Cpl. Rob King said officers have spoken to several witnesses and followed up on all leads and rumours, and while their investigation is not yet complete, nothing points to a homicide.
Ahenakew’s mother, Lisa Johnstone, said this week that she received taunts through social media on Monday night from someone claiming to have been there when he was killed.
The Mounties have said they don’t believe the messages have anything to do with Ahenakew’s death, but they’re looking into them as part of a separate investigation.
“The preliminary findings have revealed this was a good kid, but so far the investigation has revealed there was no foul play involved in his death,” King said.
Johnstone was on her deck when her phone chimed with an alert: she had a Facebook friend request. She opened the app and saw her son’s face and name.
“That sick bastard made me think for a quick second my son was alive. Then I remembered where my son was: inside an urn on the table,” Johnstone said in an interview.
Johnstone said the person behind the Facebook profile sent her messages that purportedly included details about her son’s final moments.
“Just to let you know we made him suffer,” says one of the messages, which Johnstone forwarded to Postmedia. “He was begging for his life.”
Johnstone said other members of her family and at least one of her son’s friends have received similar messages from the fake Brennan Ahenakew Facebook account. She said she reported the messages to Shellbrook RCMP and RCMP told her to block the account so she would not receive further messages from it.
“It’s disgusting, it’s inhumane, it’s evil,” an emotional Johnstone said. “My family is being tormented.”
King said earlier this week the RCMP is looking into Johnstone’s complaint, but that it can be difficult to figure out the identities of anonymous people on social media.
Johnstone said her family has struggled in the months since Ahenakew ’s death. Her husband is so distraught that he hasn’t been able to work, she said.
She is also frustrated that her son’s death remains classified as suspicious rather than a homicide, and she feels RCMP aren’t doing enough to provide answers about how her son ended up dead in the burning vehicle.
RCMP received a call about the burning vehicle on the Ahtahkakoop First Nation early in the day on May 10, but the officer who initially went to the scene left without searching the vehicle. The police force is conducting an internal investigation into how the officer failed to discover Ahenakew’s remains.
Given the circumstances of how the investigation started, Johnstone said she has little faith RCMP will provide justice for her family.
She said she has arranged for what’s left of her son’s vehicle, currently being held at an impound lot in Saskatoon, to be returned to the Ahtahkakoop First Nation later this month. Johnstone said she plans to hire someone to do an investigation and offer insight into whether there is any evidence in the vehicle that can point to a culprit.