Work to prepare for Prairie Green landfill search has started, province says - Action News
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Manitoba

Work to prepare for Prairie Green landfill search has started, province says

The province says it's made significant progress towardthe search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two First Nations women murdered by a serial killer.

Construction begins on building where materials will be searched

Concrete slabs and other building materials on a dirt surface with heavy equipment in the background.
Concrete slabs are in place at the Prairie Green landfill for the building where workers will search through materials for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. (Travis Golby/CBC)

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.

Workers are expected to begin sifting through material at a Winnipeg-area landfill in December to search for the remains of two First Nations women murdered by a serial killer, provincial officials said Wednesday.

Excavators have begun moving material away from an area of the landfill where the remains of Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, are believed to be, said Amna Mackin, the provincial assistant deputy minister leading the operation.

An environmental assessment was completed earlier this year to determine the amount of waste that will need to be removed for the search to begin, Mackin said.

Work has also started on the heated building where landfill materials will be searched through by hand, and a hydro transmission line and access road to the site have been set up.

The hope is that the building will be complete by end of November, Mackin said.

The next stage will involve searching three metres deeper in the targeted area, which is where the women's remains are believed to be. Mackin said that phase could begin in early December.

Next week, trailers for staff involved in the search are expected to arrive, Mackin said.

The women's remains are believed to have been taken to the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg after Jeremy Skibicki killed them.

The faces of three First Nations women are pictured side by side.
Left to right: Morgan Beatrice Harris, Marcedes Myran and Rebecca Contois. Jeremy Skibicki was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of all three women, as well as a fourth, whom community members named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, because police do not know her identity. (Submitted by Cambria Harris, Donna Bartlett and Darryl Contois)

Skibicki was convicted of first-degree murder on July 11 in the killing of three First Nations women Harris, 39, Myran, 26, and Rebecca Contois, 24 as well as an unidentified woman who has been given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, by community leaders.

The search, which could continue into early 2026, will involve sifting through garbage removed from a total area of about 100 by 200 metres or about four football fields to a maximum depth of about 10 metres, the province previously said.

An aerial view of a landfill.
An aerial view shows Prairie Green landfill near Winnipeg in June 2024. (Trevor Brine/CBC)

Family expresses gratitude

Family members of the women as well as members of the media got a look at the site Wednesday alongside Premier Wab Kinew and provincial officials.

Cambria Harris, the daughter of Morgan Harris, said her family is grateful the humanitarian search is finally about to begin.

"It's been two years that my mom has been laying in a landfill, as well as Marcedes Myran, and that's two years too long," she said.

"I think it's important to acknowledge that there's a lot of work that needs to get done but for our families, we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

WATCH | Cambria Harris says families hopeful landfill search can bring closure:

Cambria Harris says families hopeful landfill search can bring closure

2 days ago
Duration 1:07
Cambria Harris, the daughter of Morgan Harris, says her family is seeing 'the light at the end of the tunnel' with the search of the Prairie Green landfill set to begin in the coming weeks.

The provincial and federal governments each committed $20 million earlier this year to help fund the landfill search.

Work has begun on search of Winnipeg-area landfill for women's remains

2 days ago
Duration 3:12
The province of Manitoba says it's made significant progress toward the search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two First Nations women murdered by a serial killer.