Mariella Lennie homicide still unsolved after more than 20 years

More than 20 years after the body was found floating by a dock near Yellowknife's Con Mine, her homicideremains unsolved.

Mariella Lenniewas 17 years old. She waslast seen alive outside the Discovery Inn in downtown Yellowknife onOct. 6,1991. Lennie wasfromTulita, N.W.T., and had moved to the city one month before to attend high school. She was staying with relatives.

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"We thought it was the best idea so I sent her to Yellowknife to get her education,"saidWilfredLennie, Mariella's father.

"But things didn't turn out, I guess."

Was she shot? Was she stabbed?I don't know.- Wilfred Lennie, Mariella's father

Twelve days passed before she was reported missing.

Her body was found the following spring, on May 8, 1992, floating in Great Slave Lake near Con Mine.

Case not cold

Lennie is one of the missing ormurdered aboriginal women in the Northwest Territories whose cases have not been solved.

Yellowknife RCMPSgt. Eric Lane said the policeruledLennie'sdeath a homicide immediately. Lane saidtheyhave accumulated a large amount of information on the case.

"At this point in time, it's enormous," he said. "It's gone through several lead investigators who have continued to push it along. It has never really gone cold. Information keeps coming in on that file."

Lane saidtheRCMPdoes not have enough information to lay a charge.

WilfredLennieis critical of the wayRCMPhave handled the case. He said the police have evenrefused to tell the family how Marielladied.

Cause of death kept from family

"They just told me she was murdered," he said. "So I don't know. Maybe they're keeping it a secret. Maybe they don't want people to know about it.

"Was she shot? Was she stabbed?I don't know."

RCMPtold CBC News that investigators are in contact with the family monthly.Lenniesaidthat's not the case.

He saidhe was contacted by police earlier this week after CBC News requested information on the case. He said hecalled the RCMPa few months ago, but they wouldn't tell him anything.Before that, he said he hadn't heard from them in several years.

"It's a painful thing. You don't understand. Do they have a suspect or things like that? I don't know."

Lenniesaid he hopes renewed media attention on thecase will encourage witnesses to come forward.

RCMPaskanyone with information to contact their local detachment or callCrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.