B.C. women hold vigil for Hay River's Brittany Martel

The death of a Hay River woman inBritish Columbia has left some Indigenous women in the region feeling shaken.

People gathered in Merritt, B.C., on Aug. 1, to remember Brittany Martel who was found dead on the side of a nearby highway on July 22.

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Billie Jean Gabriel, who organized the vigil, did not know Martel, but she said learning her body had been discovered near town was disturbing.

"I couldn't sleep. I was sick to my stomach," she said.

"Our Indigenous women should not be unsafe in B.C.," she added. "We want the public to help us keep our sisters safe."

No criminality suspected

According to a Tuesday news release from the B.C. RCMP, no criminality is suspected in Martel's death.

But Gabriel sees Martel's death as part of a pattern of Indigenous women who go missing in British Columbia.

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"When an Indigenous woman's body is found in B.C.on a highway it is no light matter," she said. "That is something we have seen before; it is something that continues to happen."

Co-organizer Cassie Tremblaysaid the RCMP's findings have "outraged a lot of people" and they should "investigate more."

The RCMP"conducted a thorough investigation into this matter," said Sgt. Janelle Shoihet, B.C. RCMPmedia relations officer, in an email.

"We are aware there was a vigil held last night," saidShoihet. "Our commitment from the onset of the investigation, was to provide timely and up to date information to her family, a commitment we continue to maintain."

'We want to honour her'

Gabriel said the group hung a red dress on a tree in a local park and then marched with signs to the town's RCMP building. Later at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, the group lit a path of candles.

Melissa Dexel, who left Hay River around 2003 and lives in the Merritt region now, knew Martel's family, although she didn't know Martel.

"We want to honour her," said Dexel. "She is not just another Indigenous woman who is going to be pushed aside."