Body of missing Labrador woman found
Father claims it’s Faith Rich; RCMP says it hasn’t confirmed identity of human remains
The body of a young Innu woman missing in Labrador for about a month has been found, her father says.
Faith Rich, 22, was reported missing on July 11 in Happy Valley-goose Bay and searchers had been combing the area since then. According to an RCMP news release issued July 12, Rich had not been seen since June 15.
The RCMP has confirmed human remains were discovered in a wooded area at the edge of Happy Valley-goose Bay on July 15. In a news release issued the following day, police said they have not identified those remains.
However, Steve Mestenapeo, Rich’s father, told Saltwire Network he believes it is his daughter.
Mestenapeo said at this point they’re waiting for the medical examiner to travel to Labrador and determine the cause of death. While the news wasn’t good, he’s happy they located her, he said.
“I had kind of expected this for a little while now, but I’m glad we found her,” he said. “I thought we would never find her. Now, when the medical examiner is done, I can bring her home.”
Home for Rich and her father is Natuashish. He said she left the community about a month ago. She went to Happy Valley-goose Bay to visit her kids, he said, and had been in sporadic contact with family since.
Mestenapeo travelled to the town earlier this week to search for Rich once it was realized no one had spoken to her in a while. He said when he showed up, he expected to be searching for her by himself, and was happy to see residents and search and rescue teams from multiple communities come out to assist.
“I’m really proud of what they did,” he said. “I didn’t expect it at all. I thought I would be going through this on my own, looking for my kid.”
The hardest thing he’s ever done, Mestenapeo said, was call his family Thursday night to tell them they had found Faith.
He started to worry a few weeks ago when he sent a package to her in Happy Valley-goose Bay and she didn’t pick it up. That’s when he started calling around, and realized no one had seen her since June 15. As soon as he could get to Happy Valleygoose Bay, he began searching.
“I didn’t want it to end this way. Who would? But it’s better than not knowing.”