Date Found: August 17, 2014
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Victim: Tina Fontaine (15)

Tina’s Background

Tina Fontaine was born in 1999 and raised in the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. 

After her father was murdered in 2011, Tina struggled with grief, eventually entering the care of Child and Family Services (CFS).

By age 15, Tina had run away multiple times. 

She was in and out of foster homes and had recently reconnected with her biological mother. On August 8, 2014, she was reported missing.

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The Discovery

On August 17, her body was discovered in the Red River, wrapped in a duvet cover and weighed down with rocks. 

The discovery shocked the country. 

A young Indigenous girl, who had encountered police, child welfare, and hospital staff in the days before her death and yet no one had protected her.

The Investigation

Police arrested 53-year-old Raymond Cormier and charged him with second-degree murder in 2015. 

Prosecutors argued that Cormier had confessed to the crime in recorded conversations and was involved with Tina in a highly inappropriate manner.

In 2018, a jury acquitted Cormier, citing lack of physical evidence and uncertainty over the cause of death.

National Impact

Tina’s death sparked outrage. The case became a lightning rod for Canada’s long-standing crisis involving Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). 

Her death led to:

• A national inquiry into MMIWG
• Policy changes in Manitoba child welfare
• Renewed calls for reform in how authorities handle Indigenous youth

Tina’s life was short, and her death remains officially unsolved. But her name has become a symbol of the changes that must come.