On 14th June 2013, 27-year-old Immaculate Basil vanished from a First Nations village in Canada and hasn't been seen since.
Immaculate, who was also known as "Mackie", lived in the Tl'azt'en Nation in British Columbia. She was last seen attending a house party on the Tachie Reserve, a settlement in British Columbia in the early hours of the 14th June with a man named Victor and her cousin Keith.
She was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a red maple leaf emblazoned on the front, grey yoga leggings and white shoes.
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When she disappeared, Immaculate's son was just five years old. In the eight years that have passed since, her disappearance has been discussed on Reddit and numerous blogs and local news websites trying to piece together what happened to the young woman.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) report to the family, Victor and Keith reported that they were riding in a white truck with Immaculate on the night of her disappearance. The truck that they were travelling in allegedly got into an accident on Leo Creek Forest Service Road. Victor and Keith said Immaculate separated from them after the accident.
Victor was later seen walking down a street in Tachie in wet clothes up to his chest on Friday 14th June 2013 at around 10am.
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RCMP Corporal Dave Tyreman spoke to Canadian news website My Prince George Now about the investigation into Immaculate's disappearance. "We would be remissed if we didn't think about foul play, so that's been considered. Was she attacked by a wild animal? Was it a part of the terrain, did she step off a cliff?" he said.
He also said investigators are confident that she would never leave town on her own accord due to her connection to her son and her family. "So it would be totally out of character for her to do something like that."
The RCMP have not ruled out foul play or whether Immaculate was attacked by a wild animal.
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The numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada is an area of confusion. A 2014 report by the RCMP said 1,017 Indigenous women had been murdered between 1980 and 2012 and another 164 were considered missing. However advocacy groups, including Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) say the figure is much higher.
To address the crimes that disproportionately affect indigenous women, the Canadian government under prime minister Justin Trudeau, launched the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in September 2016.
The inquiry states that between 1980 and 2012, Indigenous women and girls represented 16 per cent of all female homicides in Canada, while making up only four per cent of the female population in the country.
The findings published in June 2019 called the tragedy a "race-based genocide of indigenous peoples" and blamed it on "deep-rooted colonialism and state inaction."
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On the one year anniversary of the final report in 2020, prime minister Justin Trudeau highlighted the work the government has done to extend the support to services that "provide assistance to the families of missing and murdered women, girls, and LGBTQ and two-spirited people."
He added: "Everyone has a role to play to end violence and ensure the safety of Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ and two-spirit people."
If you happen to have information regarding the disappearance of Immaculate Basil, please contact the Fort St James RCMP at 250-996-8269, or call Crimstoppers at 1-800-222-847 or visit https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/detach/en/d/229.
Featured Image Credit: RSCMP Missing PersonsTopics: True Crime, News