Anida Ross, the mother of Delaine Copenace, was upset.
“I tried requesting autopsy photos but they won’t let me have them,” she told the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Women and Girls hearing in Thunder Bay.
“Because they said it belongs to the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) I said, ‘Yeah, pictures of my daughter belong to you? No, they should belong to me.’”
Accessing crime scene images along with autopsy information has emerged as a major sore spot for families, according to testimony provided at the inquiry’s eight public hearings to date.
Some have described tense battles with police and government agencies while trying to access official documents they need to understand what happened to their loved ones.
“That’s where we come in,” said Laurie Davies of the Family Information Liaison Unit (FILU) in Edmonton.
“We run alongside the national inquiry, and provide support to families in each province and territory.”
The units began operating in April 2017, funded by the federal government.
Davies said the units can help families get everything from medical reports to death certificates, interpret and understand information, and connect to counselling.
However, if a case is open, unresolved or undetermined files are usually not released so as not to compromise the investigation.
It’s a role Davies, who has travelled to every community in her Alberta territory to make presentations, is relishing.
“It’s about building relationships,” she said. “I love the work: interacting with people, making a difference.”
But not everyone knows about FILU, which has been quietly humming along while the troubled inquiry limps amid the spotlight.
That was evident in Saskatoon where the inquiry rented a major hotel ballroom to advertise FILU services that didn’t get much traffic.
“We need all the publicity we can get,” said Dorothy Myo, FILU manager for Saskatchewan, who was on hand to answer questions.
Some families learn about FILU through the inquiry. Other times, FILU employees reach out to them.
Helen Vriglen, the FILU contact in Nova Scotia, said she introduced herself to the family of Virginia Pictou Noyes following their testimony in Membertou.
The family said it was difficult to access cross-border information from Maine State Police about the Canadian woman’s disappearance in 1993.
Delaine Copenace’s mother, Anida Ross, said she’d love to have a copy of the coroner’s report that concluded her daughter drowned in Lake of the Woods after going missing in Kenora, Ont., in 2016.
“There seems to be a lack of contact between families and police,” said Davies.
“We can be that bridge they need,” she added, noting families don’t have to participate in the inquiry to make use of FILU services.
“Our job is to be non-adversarial and get valid answers why families can’t get the information they need.”
Davies said police reports are what families ask for the most – then autopsy results and referrals to health support services.
“We bring them smudge kits but we’re not counsellors,” said Davies, noting that she can refer family members to culturally sensitive workers and elders.
Davies has connected with more than 20 family members so far.
“We never tell the families what they need. We try to find out what they need,” she added.
Families are under “such great stress,” agreed Myo.
“They feel alone when they’re trying to get information. We can access police and government agencies in a way family members can’t to help complete their story.”
Myo, who has a social work background, said her office helped more than 20 families prepare for the inquiry hearings in Saskatoon.
She said FILU staff were able to translate organizational jargon “into layman’s language” so families could share their stories with important details they wanted to leave on the inquiry record.
With some crimes occurring in different provinces or territories, Myo said FILU teams communicate weekly so nothing falls between the cracks.
This is just another money grab using the
Indian families….police have no dann business keeping the families in the dark like this….indians
!!!! We gotta dump the Whiteman and his racially predjidicial system….
Also, when a case is open, unresolved or undetermined files are usually not released as it could compromise the investigation. The APTN article failed to mention that fact.
The Ontario Family Information Liaison Units have been open since March 2017.
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Note that the Family Information Liaison Units are only funded during the duration of the National Inquiry MMIWG / Enquête nationale FFADA . There needs to ba a call to action to ensure these units across Canada remain intact until no longer needed (no more missing persons).