No police investigation adds to questions surrounding death of mother

March 17, 2016.

For 20 years, Tracy George Heese believed her mother had been killed while sleeping on a park bench in downtown Edmonton. Heese, who resides in Regina, planned to visit the site when she came to the city this weekend to show her clothing designs at a fashion show aimed at stopping violence against women.

But on Tuesday, Heese discovered startling facts about her mother’s death: not only did she have the wrong date her mother died but the Edmonton Police Service did not investigate.

Heese says she has gone from “really upset” to “it’s confusing.”

“Now I’m having to prove that my mom is part of that statistic. The Canadian government and the police system across Canada want us to do their job for them and it really upsets me,” she said.

Winnifred George, Heese’s mother, is buried at her home of Ochapowace Reserve near Whitewood, Sask. Heese recalls the funeral took place in 1995 and she believed her mother passed away May 31, 1995. Heese was told by her maternal uncle that as her mother lay sleeping on a park bench in downtown Edmonton, someone approached her from behind and smashed her skull with a rock.

“That’s the story that I have only known,” said Heese. She has no documentation related to her mother’s death, not even a death certificate.

EPS has no record of investigating George’s death.

“The coroner suggested she died in 1991 so we never investigated it either way (whether she died in 1995 or 1991),” said Scott Pattison, communications advisor with EPS.  

He says the coroner’s report states George died May 7, 1991. The location is noted as in or near Edmonton.

Pattison says George’s investigation may have been conducted by the RCMP.

However, Cpl. Hal Turnbull, with Alberta RCMP strategic communication unit, says the RCMP does not have jurisdiction within Edmonton.

“I spoke with the homicide and historical homicide units and they confirmed she was found in a downtown park and therefore it’s an Edmonton Police Service investigation and we don’t have a record of any investigation on our plate,” said Turnbull.

Even if the death was determined not to be a homicide, a deceased person on a park bench would warrant paperwork, he says.

“They definitely should have a file somewhere to say a body was found in a city park. They wouldn’t just sort of arrive at a scene and say, ‘This person is from outside of the city. Hi RCMP,’ and then leave it to us. They would be in charge of any investigation within city limits,” said Turnbull.

He also says a search he conducted of the RCMP database does not contain Winnifred George’s name. 

The Medical Examiner’s Office did not hold a fatality inquiry into George’s death, says Michelle Davio, with media relations in Alberta Justice. As there was no fatality inquiry, no details regarding the circumstances of her death can be made public, not even the date of her death.

The decision on whether a fatality inquiry is warranted is made by the fatality inquiry review board “depending on the death,” says Davio, and criteria is laid out in legislation. The police play no role in the determination of a fatality inquiry.

Heese says she has been told that she needs to apply through the Canadian Privacy Act to get personal information on her mother.

“That’s a lengthy process. I can understand why people become frustrated,” she said.

Heese is hopeful that if she can prove who she is and that she has the authority to access information on her mother that she may be able to meet with EPS as well as get documentation from the medical examiner. She also wants to talk to the funeral home that transported her mother’s body from Edmonton to Ochapowace First Nation.

Heese says in 1995 when her mother was buried, she never questioned the circumstances surrounding George’s death.

“I had just had a baby. I struggled because of (my mother’s) lifestyle. I blamed her. I felt, well, yeah, okay, she’s dead. It’s kind of her own fault. I never questioned,” said Heese. “Now, almost two decades later here, I’m questioning. I’m able to speak about it. I’m able to look at it and now I want the answers.”

Heese was one of the many family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women to speak with Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould during a pre-inquiry meeting to get input into the parameters of the national inquiry.

Now, Heese refers to her mother as a “free spirit,” who travelled between a number of cities. “She had that gypsy spirit, that nomadic spirit. She had friends all over the place.”

This Sunday Heese is letting her designs speak for her as she supports “Walking to End Violence,” a fashion show at Concordia University. Heese started Timeless Shadows Apparel when she married a pow wow dancer in 1994. She initially sewed pow wow regalia but now has expanded to western wear and business attire.

Proceeds from the show will go toward WIN Foundation.

“In reality, why I’m doing this is not just for my mother. There are other cases where women aren’t being found or acknowledged or respected, this attitude of Aboriginal women being disposed of. So I’m having to do this for my mother, but not only for my mother but for many who can’t speak for themselves,” said Heese.