THIS CASE HAS BEEN SOLVED: A teenage boy who admitted to killing Brandy Vittrekwa was sentenced to two years in jail, and one year of community supervision on June 16, 2016. ​He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December 2015.

Though Norine Vittrekwa has countless memories of her daughter Brandy, one stands out the most.

"I was getting out the Christmas lights. It was December and her room was downstairs. I happened to look at her room and she just looked at me and smiled," said Vittrekwa.

"She smiled at me and I have that moment in my head."

Vittrekwa holds this memory close to her heart -- it happened the same month her daughter's body was found on a walking trail in Whitehorse, Yukon.

She describes the Gwich'in teenager as someone who spent a lot of time with her friends.

"She was always happy and outgoing," Vittrekwa said.

"She had a sense of humour about her."

In 2015, close friends still post messages on Brandy's memorial Facebook page.

The last time Vittrekwa saw her daughter was on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014.

"I was trying to get a hold of her to come home but she wasn't answering."

When Brandy didn't answer her mom's calls and Facebook messages, Vittrekwa really started to worry.

On Dec. 9, 2014, police officers arrived at her door.

"They [the police] said there was a body found, but there were other girls missing and they're not sure if it was Brandy," Vittrekwa said.

"I was praying it wasn't her."

That afternoon, police returned to Vittrekwa's door to ask what Brandy was wearing. That's when Vittrekwa's worst nightmare came true.

"I need to know who did this to her, what happened to her," she said.

The Whitehorse RCMP is investigating, and aren't releasing details because they're still working on the case, Vittrekwa says.

She's told they don't want to make any mistakes and they have one suspect in custody.

On April 28, 2015, two months after investigators last spoke to the family, RCMP charged a 15-year-old male with second-degree murder.  In December, 2015, the youth pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The youth can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. 

"She's beautiful, outgoing. She drew people to her," Vittrekwa said about her daughter.

"It's so hard, so hard. I expect her to come home and she's not going to."

With so many others cases, Vittrekwa has added her voice to those calling for a federal inquiry into Canada's missing and murdered indigenous girls and women.

She hopes it will provide answers for her and other family members.