Police find body of missing girl
Father killed by self-inflicted injuries
NIPAWIN, SASK. •AnAmber Alert and frantic search for a seven-year-old girl ended in tragedy Thursday when her body was discovered in a home in northeastern Saskatchewan.
The alert was issued by police in Nipawin overnight after Nia Eastman was not returned to her mother Wednesday evening. Police said Nia’s father, Adam Jay Eastman, was found dead earlier in the day from self-inflicted injuries.
Officers found the girl’s body in a house in Choiceland, a small community not far from Nipawin, where residents say the father rented a home.
RCMP Insp. Jennifer Ebert struggled to maintain composure as she broke the news of the girl’s death.
“All of us had hoped and prayed Nia would be located safely,” she said as she choked back tears. “This was not the outcome any of us were hoping for and our thoughts are with her family and the communities.”
The officer said investigators were trying to piece together what happened after Nia’s father picked her up from William Mason School on Wednesday.
“Our investigators are working diligently to determine exactly what took place,” she said. “At this point in the investigation, there is no indication anyone else was involved in Nia’s death and we are not seeking any suspects.”
According to locals, the property where the girl was found is about two blocks from her school and is not connected to the family. There was a “For Sale” sign in front of the house, CBC reported.
A Facebook page belonging to a Jay Eastman features several photos of a little girl smiling happily with her father. People who knew Eastman say he went by his middle name “Jay.”
On Tuesday afternoon, a day before Nia was to be returned to her mother, there was a photo posted of the girl and an unidentified woman with the superimposed caption “My World.”
Others pictures included symbols of death, including a corpse with glowing red eyes and skeletons dancing.
On Wednesday, the page’s cover photo was changed to a picture of a skull and crossbones with the slogan, “Leave me alone. I’ve had enough.”
There were no further posts after that.
According to a provincial court document, Eastman was facing an assault charge and appeared in court Wednesday. A Nipawin peace officer said he believed the man had assaulted on Crystal Eastman, Nia’s mother, on Aug. 23 in Choiceland.
Drew Wilby, a spokesman for Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice’s Department of Policing and Corrections, said the charge was not dealt with and the case was adjourned.
He said it’s his understanding that there was no order in place that would have prohibited Eastman from contacting his daughter. However, he noted there were contact restrictions between Eastman and his wife, but he was unable to provide further information on what those restrictions were.
Locals said the family had lived in Lloydminister before moving to the Nipawin/ Choiceland area in 2014.
A business owner in Choiceland said Nia’s father dropped in to talk pretty much every day.
The woman, who did not want her name used, said Eastman and his wife had separated about two months ago. Nia was their only child, although Adam Eastman had two children from a previous common-law relationship.
“He was having mental issues. Him and his wife split up. It wasn’t a good situation,” she said.
The woman said she would see Eastman and Nia together occasionally and he doted on the little girl.
“He loved her a lot. She was all he had.”
Eastman had worked at a Co-op for a while, but was currently unemployed, she added.
Rob Mardell, mayor of Choiceland, Sask. said residents are shocked by the news.
“We’re doing all right,” said Mardell in a phone interview on Thursday of his community, which as of 2011, was home to just 381 people.
“Of course, we’re reeling and upset with what’s happened.”
While Mardell didn’t know the family very well, he had encountered them in the community and said the entire town has been saddened by what has emerged in news reports.
“They have some family in the area and I imagine that they’re upset by what’s transpired this morning,” he said.
When reached for comment via telephone, Jay Eastman’s father, Morris, declined to comment.