Deborah Anne Sloss, 42, died in a Toronto rooming house in July 1997. Her family members believe she died of head trauma, but Toronto police say there is no evidence that criminal activity played a part in her death.

There were several discrepancies in the short police investigation into Sloss’s death, members of her family said, but investigators closed her file anyway. Those gaps included inconsistent physical descriptions of Sloss’s body and conflicting timelines.

The family said they have questions about the timeline of her death. According to a coroner’s investigation statement, Sloss was last seen alive on July 24, 1997. However, in the post-mortem and police reports, her body was described as showing “advanced decomposition” when it was discovered on July 29.

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Throughout the police and coroner’s report, Sloss was described as an “alcoholic” and a “crack addict,” with several mentions made of a crack pipe discovered in a purse on the door of a closet.

In the coroner’s investigation statement, additional comments are made about Sloss recently drinking alcohol and frequently missing medical appointments. There were also comments about  empty beer bottles found in a “disordered” room  — all hurtful labels and descriptions, her family says.

Also, in the post-mortem report, Sloss was at once described as having a “small build” and being “well nourished.” But in the the police report, she was described as someone who had “lost a lot of weight and did not look to be in good health.”

Sloss’s body was in a morgue for a month, listed as a Jane Doe. Family members said they only learned about her death after a community member told them.

“It was really scandalous to me,” said Dan Smoke, Sloss’s brother-­in-­law.

The Toronto Police Service closed Sloss’s file just two days after her body was found.

“The cause of death was determined to be a sudden death,” a spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service wrote in an email. “After an investigation, there was no evidence to support any criminal activity.”

A coroner’s report, dated one day after the body was found, indicates there was no anatomical or toxicological cause of death.

“After an investigation, there was no evidence to support any criminal activity,” it concluded.

A toxicology report filed three months later said Sloss had a moderate level of alcohol in her blood, noting that it could be from decomposition. Small amounts of antihistamines were also found, but no cocaine or morphine was detected. That contradicts the police’s conclusion that she was a crack addict and alcoholic.

“She definitely [had] a high-risk lifestyle, but she wasn't doing that at the time of her death,” said Smoke.

Sloss’s daughter, Laura LaCrosse, said her mother was clean when she died and the family was reaching out to her, helping her learn traditional drumming.

Sloss was also supposed to be moving back in with LaCrosse’s father, according to her daughter.

“She just never made it home,” said LaCrosse, who added that it’s still difficult to talk about her mother.

For Smoke and LaCrosse, they have too many unanswered questions concerning Sloss’s death.

Smoke said Sloss’s sister, Cathy, went to the morgue to identify the body and to meet with officers who were handling the file.

There, Cathy was told that Sloss “liked to party” and nothing else, Smoke said.

He believes Sloss’s case would never be thoroughly investigated by police for three reasons — she was Indigenous (originally from the Batchewana First Nation, an Ojibwa community in Ontario), she was a woman, and she was being described as an alcoholic.

Sloss’s once-high-­risk lifestyle was so emphasized in the police reports that her family is left wishing she could have been regarded as more than just another alcoholic.

One week after Sloss’s body was found, her room was rented out and her belongings were thrown into a nearby dumpster, Smoke said.

During the traditional wake ceremony held following Sloss’s death, many people came to tell stories during a feast for her.