‘Always hope': Remains of Cree woman sent home to Alberta decades after disappearance | Canada News Media
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‘Always hope’: Remains of Cree woman sent home to Alberta decades after disappearance

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Violet Soosay’s search for her missing aunt began four decades ago.

The pursuit took her to parts of Alberta and B.C. and down paths of uncertainty as weeks, months and years passed without word of Shirley Ann Soosay.

On Friday, about 43 years after she was last heard from, the body of Shirley Ann Soosay is expected to be returned to her home community of Samson Cree Nation, south of Edmonton.

Her remains had been buried in a California cemetery in 1980 under the name Kern County Jane Doe. Last spring, the county sheriff’s office identified the remains as belonging to 35-year-old Soosay.

Violet Soosay has worked since then with the county coroner’s office and the California cemetery to transport the body back to Alberta.

“Now there’s closure. There’s healing that can start happening,” Violet Soosay said in a phone interview.

The website for the American non-profit group DNA Doe Project says the Jane Doe’s body was found in an almond orchard near Bakersfield, Calif., in July 1980. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed.

Wilson Chouest was convicted of killing the Jane Doe, along with another unidentified woman in 2018.

Violet Soosay said she last saw her aunt in 1977 at a family funeral. She remembers her as caring, supportive and a free spirit.

“That was my constant memory that I kept because it gave me that sense of connection,” she said.

Shirley Ann Soosay was close with her mother and had maintained regular  contact with her, whether it was through holiday cards or letters, said Violet Soosay. The last correspondence came in 1979.

“After that, she just disappeared. Nobody knew. My grandmother was very frantic and heartbroken. She knew something happened.”

A few years later, Violet Soosay said she promised her grandmother she would bring Shirley Ann Soosay home. Her grandmother died in 1991.

In early 2020, Violet Soosay said she came across an artist’s rendering of the Jane Doe on a Facebook post from the DNA Doe Project. She believed the woman was her aunt.

The volunteer organization formed in 2017 to help identify unidentified deceased persons using forensic genealogy. The Kern County Sheriff-Coroner Division contacted the project in 2018 hoping to determine the identity of its Jane Doe.

Dawn Ratliff, the coroner division chief, said her office set up tip lines and worked with media to broadcast stories hoping to identify the woman, but every effort led to a dead end.

“In all the years that we had her, we never received a single inquiry. And at that point I just knew she wasn’t local. But I just didn’t know where she would be from.”

Ratliff said when she eventually heard from Violet Soosay, she asked her to submit a DNA sample. It was processed and compared to DNA they had from the remains. The two were a familial match.

Violet Soosay said that when she got the call with the results, she was flooded with years of emotions, including frustration, anger and elation.

“It was a crazy moment when I found out that she was my aunty.”

The family is planning to bury Shirley Ann Soosay in a cemetery at Samson Cree Nation.

Violet Soosay said bikers are supposed to follow her aunt’s casket from a funeral home in Wetaskiwin to her final resting place. There will also be a wake with traditional drumming.

Before the body was disinterred in California, the Tule River Tribe performed a ceremony there with prayers and drumming, added Ratliff.

“To be able to restore her name has really been tremendous,” she said.

Violet Soosay said she is grateful for the support and work of Ratliff, investigators and those involved with confirming the identity of her aunt’s remains.

She said she also has a message for Indigenous families with missing loved ones: “There’s always hope. There’s always some way to bring them home.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2022.

 

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press

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Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio making a difference off the pitch as well as on it

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Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.

The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.

Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.

Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”

Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.

The winner will be announced in late November.

The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.

The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.

They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.

The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.

“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.

“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”

His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.

“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.

“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”

The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.

“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”

Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.

“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.

The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.

“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”

Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.

“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”

“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”

The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.

Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.

A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.

Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.



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Five Things to Know: Toronto Raptors’ 2024-25 season

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TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors kick off the 2024-25 season on Wednesday night when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers at Scotiabank Arena. Here are five things to know ahead of the Raptors’ home opener:

THREE DECADES — It’s the Raptors’ 30th anniversary and the team has plans to celebrate all season, including bringing back their purple jerseys from the mid-1990s. Toronto will also be honouring former players, including Hall of Famer Vince Carter. He’ll be the first-ever player to have his Raptors jersey retired in a ceremony at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 2.

DEPTH CHART — The Raptors lacked depth to start last season with essentially one player coming off the bench — shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. — with then-rookie swingman Gradey Dick sometimes rotating in too. That short bench was evident with a -4.4 net rating over the season, tied with the San Antonio Spurs for third-worst in the NBA. Net rating is an advanced stat that indicates how much better or worse a team performs on a per-possession basis.

However, a series of trades and four draft picks remade the roster and greatly improved Toronto’s depth.

Point guard Davion Mitchell, power forward Ochai Agbaji and centre Chris Boucher of Montreal will lead the reserves to start the season. All three have serious NBA experience, averaging more than 17 minutes per game in their careers. They’ll be joined on the second unit by centre Kelly Olynyk (back) of Kamloops, B.C., and small forward Bruce Brown (arthroscopic knee surgery) once they’re healthy for a robust veteran bench that can handle big minutes. Ja’Kobe Walter, Toronto’s 19th overall pick in this past summer’s draft, will presumably be Dick’s backup at the two-guard once he’s recovered from a sprained shoulder.

COMMUTERS — Walter was the highest of Toronto’s four picks selected in the 2024 NBA draft in late June. Power forward Jonathan Mogbo (31st), point guard Jamal Shead (45th) and centre Ulrich Chomche (57th) were also selected. Although all four will see some NBA minutes this season — especially Shead, whose dogged defence was a highlight of the Raptors’ pre-season — they’ll also be regulars for the G-League’s Raptors 905 in nearby Mississauga, Ont.

IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT — The Raptors are in Group B for the NBA’s second-annual in-season tournament. They’re grouped with the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons. Toronto’s so-called Cup Nights will begin Nov. 12 in Milwaukee and continue when the Raptors host Detroit on Nov. 15. Their third tournament game will be Nov. 29 in Miami and then their group stage will end Dec. 3 when Indiana visits Scotiabank Arena.

Financial incentive has been added to the NBA Cup playoffs this season, with players on the winning team earning US$514,971 each, while $205,988 goes to each player on the runner-up team. Players who lost in the semis will get $102,994 apiece and players that lose in the quarters will get $51,497.

PORTER SENTENCING — Former Toronto backup centre Jontay Porter will receive face sentencing on Dec. 18 after he pleaded guilty in the summer to a U.S. federal conspiracy crime. Porter, 24, was banned from the NBA after admitting that he helped bettors by intentionally underperforming in games. Prosecutors have estimated that he could be facing a range from just under 3 1/2 years in prison to a little over four years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Judge tosses suits against 3 lawmakers over posts after Chiefs Super Bowl Rally shooting

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A judge has tossed three more lawsuits filed against lawmakers who shared social media posts that falsely accused a Kansas man of being among the shooters who opened fire at a rally celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory.

Denton Loudermill Jr., who was briefly handcuffed but not charged in the chaos that followed the deadly Feb. 14 shooting, filed federal lawsuits against three Republican Missouri state senators: Rick Brattin of Harrisonville, Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg and Nick Schroer of St. Charles County.

The dismissal of those suits Monday comes a month after a similar suit was dismissed against U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee.

The judge cited issues with jurisdiction. Loudermill, who is from Olathe, Kansas, filed in federal court in Kansas, rather than in Missouri, where the lawmakers were from.

Loudermill’s lawyer, Arthur Benson, said that he planned to refile the lawsuits soon. Benson said previously that he also plans to refile a lawsuit against Burchett in Washington, D.C., where the congressman was when he posted about Loudermill on social media.

The shooting outside the historic Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, killed a well-known DJ and injured more than 20 others, many of them children.

Loudermill’s lawsuits said he froze when the gunfire erupted, standing in the middle of the chaos so long that police had put up crime scene tape by the time he finally started to walked away. As he tried to go under the tape to leave, officers stopped him and told him he was moving “too slow.” They handcuffed him and put him on a curb, where people began taking pictures and posting them on social media, the suits said.

Loudermill ultimately was led away from the area and told he was free to go.

But soon posts began appearing on X, formerly known as Twitter, that included a picture of Loudermill, a car wash employee who was born and raised in the U.S. The posts called him an “illegal alien” and a “shooter,” even though he had no involvement, the suits said.

Versions of those posts, one by Burchett, were then were re-posted on the three Missouri lawmaker’s accounts, accompanied by comments from the lawmakers.

Schroer asked for confirmation or denial from law enforcement when he reposted the message from Burchett’s account.

“I’ve been sent videos or stills showing at least 6 different people arrested from yesterday but officially told only 3 still in custody,” Schroer wrote on social media over Burchett’s post. “The people deserve answers.”

After the judge’s ruling, Schroer described the lawsuits as frivolous in a statement and said he was “exploring all legal options available against persons and media outlets that knowingly spread fake news instead of what I actually asked on social media.”

Hoskins said in a statement that he agreed with the judge’s decision and would “continue to pray for the innocent victims of the Kansas City parade shooting.”

Brattin said elected officials “must have the right to speak publicly on matters of public safety without fear of liberal elites in the media creating false narratives in an attempt to destroy their credibility and provoke frivolous legal attacks.”

The judge had denied as moot an argument that the three senators were protected by “legislative immunity” in their roles as lawmakers.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office, which defended the three senators, praised the ruling.

“Questions of Missouri law belong in Missouri courts, not in remote courts in other states,” spokesperson Madeline Sieren said in a statement. “We have said that from Day One. Missourians should rest assured that they have an Attorney General who will always follow the law, even when it’s not easy.”

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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