Edna Skunk says it’s important for police to respect Anishinaabe teachings amid ongoing efforts to locate her missing granddaughter, and to trust searchers’ instincts.

Ashlynn Bottle, 23, and Nodin Skunk, 25, were last seen together at the old Pool 8 grain elevator in the 400 block of Syndicate Avenue South on April 26 in Thunder Bay, Ont., on the city’s south side.

They are both members of Mishkeegogamang First Nation, an Ojibway community about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. 

The Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) said Bottle and Skunk were viewed on video surveillance entering the property around 4:30 p.m. ET with a third person, who has been accounted for, and were last seen on video footage there at 5:12 p.m.

Police said the third person was caught on camera exiting the property around 5:30 p.m., and there is no video footage of Bottle or Skunk leaving.

“In my heart, my granddaughter is here somewhere,” Edna Skunk told a news conference outside the grain elevator Monday.

Det. Const. Jeff Saunders, missing persons co-ordinator with the TBPS, said the grain elevator property has been searched extensively with help from Thunder Bay Fire Rescue and “they are very confident that they are not in that building.”

“Our ETU [Emergency Task Unit] has done a complete ground search. Drones have been flown inside the elevator, drones have been flown out on the outside of the elevator and there’s been a complete search of every building and every nook and cranny on this property — and we were unable to locate them,” he said.

The next step, Saunders said, is to search the Kaministiquia River, which runs beside the grain elevator. That responsibility falls to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), which must send crews up from Orillia some 1,200 kilometres away.

“You can understand how much water has been flowing … it being springtime and the rain that we’ve also received,” Saunders said. “It could take some time.”

Police have not said whether the case is considered suspicious at this time.

Community members from Mishkeegogamang First Nation and Cat Lake First Nation have travelled to the city to lead their own search efforts.

“The anxiety levels are high, family members are distraught, and it’s a struggle to try and do our best to find our missing loved ones,” said Mishkeegogamang’s Chief Merle Loon.

“We’re trying to make every effort as safely as we can on our part to do our searches as well. We don’t want to have a situation where we’re searching for the searchers.”

Erin Bottle, Ashlynn’s aunt, said they’ve reached out to Fort William First Nation, which neighbours Thunder Bay, for support in searching the water. Fort William First Nation issued a statement Wednesday to let people know searchers may be in the area.

Ongoing safety concerns near site

Alvin Fiddler is grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a political-territorial organization that represents 49 First Nations across Treaties 9 and 5, including Mishkeegogamang.

Fiddler said there have been ongoing safety concerns about the abandoned grain elevator that date back to the Seven Youth Inquest, which examined the deaths of seven First Nations’ youth in the city between 2000 and 2011. 

“It’s not my first time being here on this very same site. I’ve been here other times when other community members have gone missing along the river here, along the rail line here,” Fiddler said.

Given the fact it’s a high-traffic area, he said he wants to see more video cameras along the river, as “there’s really limited video surveillance that police were able to utilize.”

Fiddler said he recently met with Thunder Bay’s mayor and Fort William First Nation’s chief to discuss ways to make the city safer, particularly for Indigenous women and youth.

As well, he met with officials in Ottawa last week in the wake of Red Dress Day to discuss the ongoing issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. 

“So much needs to be done to address these long-standing injustices,” he said. “We see them play out in places like Thunder Bay.”

Ashlynn is described as a five-foot-three Indigenous woman with a thin build, long, straight black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black crop top, a black jacket, a red baseball cap, burgundy sweatpants, red and white Jordan shoes, and a black backpack.

Nodin is described as a five-foot-nine Indigenous man weighing about 135 pounds with a thin build, short, straight black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a white logo on the back.

Anyone with information about Ashlynn’s or Nodin’s whereabouts is asked to contact police at 807-684-1200 or submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.p3tips.com.