KITIGAN ZIBI FIRST NATION – On September 6, 2008, two young women went missing from Maniwaki, Quebec, which is located in close proximity to the Kitigan Zibi First Nation about an hour and a half’s drive north of Ottawa. On Friday, September 5, Maisy Odjick spent the night at Shannon Alexander’s place. On Saturday morning, Shannon walked her dad Brian, to the bus station which would be the last time he seen or heard from his daughter again.
By Sunday, attempts to contact Maisy by her mother and grandmother failed. They grew increasingly worried as it was out of Maisy’s character to not let her mom and grandma know where she was.
On Monday, Maisy’s grandma, who resides on the Kitigan Zibi First Nation, visited Shannon’s dad in Maniwaki where they exchanged information. Both realized something was terribly wrong. Both girls left their wallets and cell phones at home. The police were notified who quickly told the Odjick and Alexander families that Maisy and Shannon probably ran away and that they would come home when they were ready.
Six days after their disappearance, Kitigan Zibi Chief Gilbert Whiteduck called a press conference where Maisy’s mom Laurie Odjick and Shannon’s dad, Brian Alexander pleaded to the public for their safe return.
On September 19, thirteen days after the girls were last seen, a search in the Ottawa area was conducted, not by the Kitigan Zibi Police Service, the Surete du Quebec Provincial Police or the RCMP, but by Maisy’s mom, Laurie. A group of 20 volunteers handed out posters in Ottawa and Gatineau and searched for the girls. Nothing.
On September 23, another search was conducted by Odjick, who arranged for a river search on Kitigan Zibi. Again nothing. Another ground search was conducted again by Laurie on September 25 and on October 1, Maisy’s aunt Maria Jacko created a website called ‘Find Maisy and Shannon.”
On December 7, 2008, exactly three months after Maisy and Shannon vanished from Maniwaki, Quebec, police finally joined in on the search efforts, which included the Search & Rescue Global 1 Team and the Kitigan Zibi Police. No new information was found.
Now, five and a half years later, Maisy’s mom Laurie, continues to search for her daughter in the hope of bringing her home. One way which helps her to deal with the pain and the anguish of not knowing where her beloved daughter is, is to help other families whose loved ones have gone missing.
Odjick recently announced a new charitable organization, which she helped establish in the hope that other families will not have to endure what she suffered. According to Odjick, “Maisy’s Foundation of Hope is a front line foundation to help families that are going through a crisis in the precious first few days when a loved one goes missing. The foundation will offer front line support to families at the time their loved one goes missing. And also to make sure that things get done properly for the family.”
When asked what she feels were the biggest flaws in her daughter’s investigation, Odjick explained, “Things went wrong from the beginning. The police are the ones that did the most damage to her, claiming she was a runaway. No search was done. I did that with help from family and friends. And nothing was done for her. I had to push to ask questions. Things only started when we got Missing Children’s Society of Canada involved. I should have never had to do the things I have done, if they did their job right. They had a community search but it was way too late. It should have been done the day I reported her missing. I am grateful to the community for coming together and helping me.”
Any First Nations family living in Canada or the US can access Maisy’s Foundation of Hope.
For more information on the disappearance of Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander, visit the family’s website at http://www.findmaisyandshannon.com/index.html
7 year anniversary of their disappearance this weekend. Still no sign of them.