Kasandra Bolduc had been missing since November.
“And hung out regularly on Queen Street both in the east and the west,” said Doug Johnson, a street pastor at Sanctuary Ministries in Toronto.
“We’ve tried to track what could have happened with her death a little bit. But what is most galling and outrageous to us is that Toronto police are not treating this as a homicide at this point.”
Investigators are still waiting for the results of post-mortem testing.
“As if there could be another explanation as to what happened where it shouldn’t be treated as a homicide,” said Johnson, at Tuesday’s monthly homeless memorial vigil outside the Church of the Holy Trinity.
“Of course there are some explanations that are possible that don’t include homicide. But to not treat it immediately as very suspicious and have a full-fledged investigation which includes press releases with her name and asking for more people to come forward is just the kind of reason Robert Picton was able to get away with his murders for so long.”
Her name, age or any identifying information was never released after her remains were pulled from Lake Ontario.
“When somebody who was in his 30s and white and a father went missing, there was a national search under way until he was found,” said Johnson.
“(But) this is not what happens when somebody like Kasandra goes missing.”
In November, some press releases were issued but the case attracted little media attention.
“But when her body was found, it was like maybe she kind of deserved it because of the lifestyle so we’re not going to really investigate it,” said Johnson.
“This is what’s galling and outrageous and what we must speak out against.’
What those who support the homeless memorial vigil speak out against on a regular basis.
“These are things that are very concerning to us,” he said.
Especially when names are added to the homeless memorial board of people who died at the beginning of their adult lives.
Kasandra Bolduc was only in her early 20s. Cheyenne Fox was just 20 years old.
“Stolen from us far too young. And whose deaths we don’t think are investigated properly.”
Fox, a First Nations woman, fell 24 stories to her death on April 25.
“Her family is convinced she was murdered,” said Johnson. “She had a very abusive boyfriend.”
Less than two months before her death, she left the shelter she was living in and went back to live with her boyfriend.
“Her homelessness was related to the abuse she was facing,” said Johnson.
“There was loud screaming heard before she fell off the balcony. And there were bruises all over her body that weren’t consistent with her fall. Toronto police have ruled it a suicide and aren’t investigating much further.
“We think this is part of the tragedy of murdered and missing First Nations women. We don’t know for sure whether she was murdered. (But) we don’t feel that a proper investigation has been done.”
There are now over 600 murdered and missing First Nations women in Canada.
“She was really loved by everybody,” said Mary, who knew Cheyenne when they lived in the same homeless shelter.
“I just wish somebody knew what happened to her for real.”
Original Article
Source: rabble.ca
Author: John Bonnar
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