Landfill search for remains of slain woman shows promising signs, premier says

WINNIPEG — The search of a landfill for the remains of Ashlee Shingoose, one of four First Nations women slain by serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, has shown some encouraging signs, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Monday.

Excavation got underway last month at the Winnipeg site, which covers almost eight square kilometres, and the province has said the effort could last a year. There is still no guarantee of success, Kinew said, but material collected to date suggests the excavation is focused on the right area.

“We have got material out of the landfill that shows us we’re in the right date range, and also shows us we are in the right route for where these trucks were picking up landfill material from,” Kinew said in response to a reporter’s question.

“But of course, who’s to say whether that means we’ll be successful or not, and if we are, how long it will take? We can’t say at this point.”

Skibicki was convicted in 2024 of killing Shingoose and three other women two years earlier. He was given a life sentence for first-degree murder in the four killings with no chance of parole for 25 years.

The case started when the remains of Rebecca Contois were discovered in a Winnipeg garbage bin and at the city-run Brady Road landfill in 2022. Skibicki told police he killed four women. The remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, who also disappeared in 2022, were found last year by searchers at the Prairie Green landfill, a private operation north of Winnipeg.

Skibicki’s trial heard he targeted the women at Winnipeg homeless shelters and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins.

Skibicki admitted to the slayings but argued he was not criminally responsible due to a mental illness.

The Manitoba and federal governments committed $40 million for the Prairie Green search. It ended much sooner than expected and came in under budget at close to $20 million. Kinew said last year the remainder would be available for the search for Shingoose.

Developments so far at Brady Road are “pretty consistent” with what happened at Prairie Green, Kinew said Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2026.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press