Four people found frozen in a Manitoba field near the Canada-U.S. border last week have been officially identified as a family from India.
The bodies of husband and wife Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, and Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, 37, were discovered in a field just north of the border on Jan. 19, alongside their three-year-old son, Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel.
The body of their other child was also found nearby, officials said last week. She has now been identified as their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel.
The identities of the family were confirmed by the High Commission of India in Ottawa in a news release Thursday. Manitoba RCMP identified the father as Jagdishkumar Patel.
“We apologize for that error, but please understand that the frozen state in which the bodies were found and the clothing worn by the family made the initial confirmation difficult. It is also why the process to confirm the names took an extended period of time,” Hill said.
Autopsies of the four were done on Wednesday by Manitoba’s chief medical examiner and confirmed that the family members died of exposure to extreme weather conditions.
Autopsies completed Wednesday confirmed the Indian family found dead in a Manitoba field near the Canada-U.S. border last week died of exposure to extreme weather conditions, RCMP say. (Submitted by RCMP)
RCMP have been working on the investigation closely with liaison officers in New Delhi, India, and Washington, D.C., Hill said.
They’ve also been in regular contact with Indian consular officials, who arrived in Winnipeg on Saturday and helped to notify the family’s next of kin in India earlier Thursday morning.
The Consulate General of India in Toronto has been in touch with the family and is providing support, the High Commission release said.
Police seeking tips
Hill said investigators have determined the Patel family arrived in Toronto on Jan. 12 — their first point of entry into Canada.
They then made their way to the Manitoba community of Emerson, near the international border, around Jan. 18.
Police are still trying to determine the details around their arrival in Toronto and how they got to Manitoba, he said.
No abandoned vehicle was found on the Canadian side of the border near where the bodies were discovered, which indicates someone drove the family there and left, Hill said.
Investigators believe the case involved human smuggling and would like to speak to anyone who may have helped or seen the family while they were in Canada.
“We need anyone who had interaction with the Patel family or has information about their journey to the border to think about what they went through and step forward,” Hill said.
He added that Mounties believe the family’s interactions could have included hotel, gas station and restaurant employees.
Manitoba RCMP Chief Supt. Rob Hill said investigators are still trying to determine the details around the Patel family’s arrival in Toronto and how they got to Manitoba. (Global News pool)
“This is an extended period of time for a family who is unfamiliar with Canada to be travelling across the country,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the RCMP’s major crime services tip line at 431-489-8551.
Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a secure tip online at manitobacrimestoppers.com.
Other Indian nationals released
Authorities have said they believe the family members died while trying to walk across the international border into the United States.
Shortly before the bodies were discovered in Manitoba last week, U.S. officials had detained seven other Indian nationals on the other side of the border.
Two of those people were travelling in a van with 47-year-old Steve Shand of Florida, who has been charged with transporting or attempting to transport undocumented migrants.
The other five Indian nationals were taken into custody around the same time, very close to where Shand was arrested, a document filed in court last week said.
It’s believed the 11 Indian nationals were all part of the same group, but that the family of four had gotten separated from the rest during the journey.
Six of the seven people detained were placed under an order of supervision, while one was released on an order of recognizance for humanitarian purposes, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Kris Grogan said in an email on Thursday.
All seven were either administratively processed for removal or placed into removal proceedings and have since been released from U.S. Border Patrol custody. They’ve all been ordered to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, at a later date, Grogan said.
Community shocked
Little else is known about the Indian nationals taken into custody in the U.S. The court document filed last week said they speak limited or no English, but are fluent in Gujarati, a language spoken in western India.
Hemant Shah, a member of the Gujarati community in Winnipeg, said he was shocked to learn the news last week about the four people who died — as were friends and colleagues in both Canada and India.
“My heart is crying. What they may have gone through crossing this border, you know, we can’t visualize. We can’t imagine this,” said Shah, urging anyone who knows anything about the family’s journey to come forward.
“Maybe it will help other people who are coming this way. They may stop this. Because this is not — the loss of four lives, it’s not easy. Especially two kids.”
Hemant Shah is a member of the Gujarati community in Winnipeg. He said he was shocked to learn the news last week about the four people who died. (Zoom)
Shah, who is also the trade director for Overseas Friends of India Canada, said he hopes the tragedy spurs Canadian and Indian governments and organizations to do more outreach and education about the risks of trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border on foot.
The High Commission of India in Ottawa and the country’s consulate in Toronto are working closely with authorities in Canada on the investigation, the High Commission release said.
A special team led by a senior consular officer is in Manitoba to help those investigations and offer consular services for victims.
Canada is a preferred destination for Indian immigrants and students, the news release said, and the two countries work together to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian immigrants in Canada.
“The two countries have a regular consular dialogue which takes up issues related to migration and welfare of citizens in each other’s territories,” the release said.
The death of the family discovered last week has highlighted the need to ensure migration and mobility between countries are made safe and legal to avoid similar tragedies, the release said.
A number of ideas to prevent irregular migration, human smuggling and trafficking are being discussed by the two countries, it said. That includes a comprehensive migration and mobility partnership agreement with Canada, which the release said remains under the consideration of the Canadian government.
Bodies found frozen near Canada-U.S. border confirmed to be family from India
4 hours ago
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Four people found frozen in a Manitoba field near the Canada-U.S. border last week have been officially identified as a family from India. 2:07
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
