Known for Murder victim | Died 17 August 2014, Canada | |
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Parents Eugene Fontaine, Tina Duck Siblings Laurie Fontaine, Sarah Fontaine, Charles Fontaine, Bryan Fontaine, Dillon St. Paul, Samantha Fontaine Resting place Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba Similar Neil Stonechild, Helen Betty Osborne, John Joseph Harper | ||
Tina Michelle Fontaine (January 1, 1999 – c. August 10, 2014) was a Canadian girl of aboriginal descent who was murdered in August 2014. The event spurred an inquiry into missing, murdered indigenous women of Canada. Raymond Joseph Cormier has been charged with her murder.
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Background
Fontaine was raised by her great-aunt for most of her life; they lived on the Sagkeeng First Nation, just outside Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Her father, Eugene, had been beaten to death in 2011, by two men receiving manslaughter convictions. Fontaine's aunt recalled that this deeply affected her. "She was very hurt, very lost. That's when she drifted away."
Disappearances and body discovery
Fontaine was in the care of Manitoba Child and Family Services when she was reported missing to Winnipeg Police Service on July 31, 2014. Her aunt, Lana, later said that Fontaine had stayed with her during the August long weekend (August 1–3). On August 5, Fontaine telephoned her CFS worker and was subsequently picked up by members of CFS and Winnipeg Police Service. At 3 a.m. on August 8, police encountered her in a truck with an allegedly drunk driver, but did not take her into custody. At 4 a.m., she was found passed out in an alleyway near Ellice Avenue and was escorted to hospital and treated before being checked into the Best Western Charterhouse hotel, which she soon left. She was reported missing again on August 9.
At around 1:30 p.m. on August 17, a body was found wrapped in a plastic bag in the Red River. The body was identified as that of Fontaine the following day. Police believe she had died on or around August 10.
A young woman who claimed to have become acquainted with Fontaine shortly before she disappeared told CBC News of the events that happened in the hours leading up to her disappearance. The woman, identified by CBC News as simply "Katrina", said that after meeting Fontaine between 10 and 11 p.m. on August 7, they went to eat at the Macdonald Youth Services emergency shelter at around 2:30 a.m. Believing Fontaine was drunk, Katrina requested the shelter staff keep her overnight, but Fontaine refused to stay, and also did not give her name. After witnessing her stepping into the truck and the encounter with the police, Katrina lost contact with Fontaine until around 8 p.m., after Fontaine left the hotel where she was staying. At around 3 a.m. the following morning, they were approached on Ellice Avenue by a man who offered Fontaine money to perform a sex act. She accepted and left with the man, and Katrina followed them, but they eventually disappeared from her view due to the dark.
Aftermath
In response to Fontaine's murder, the Canadian Human Rights Commission requested a full inquiry into the number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (Canada), which is now being conducted. An article in APTN stated, "Once again our hearts are filled with grief and sadness as we mourn the brutal and senseless murder of an Aboriginal girl", wrote acting chief commissioner David Langtry in a statement. "Tina must not disappear into the oblivion of statistics."
The murder also resulted in the creation of the volunteer group Drag the Red. The organization regularly drags portions of the Red River, on the chance that bodies or evidence may be found.
Fontaine was buried on Sagkeeng First Nation next to her father. Raymond Joseph Cormier was charged with her murder in December 2015.