Janine René Wesaquate-Oakes was a 20-year-old Indigenous mother living in Regina, Saskatchewan, whose life ended in a deliberately set house fire on December 8, 2004. She had a two-year-old son, Landen, and was taking classes related to home care with hopes of becoming a nurse. Family said she did not drink or use drugs and that it was unlike her to disappear without calling.

On the night she vanished Janine had been shopping with her mother at Cornwall Centre and the pair walked to a bus stop. Janine made a phone call at the stop; her mother boarded a bus and expected Janine to catch another one home. When Janine did not return, the family reported her missing. The next evening a house fire in North Central Regina produced human remains that could not be identified visually; dental records confirmed Janine’s identity. Investigators concluded the fire had been set intentionally and, about seven months later, classified her death as a homicide.

The burned house was reportedly the same residence tied to the abduction and murder of Wayne Gerald Friday weeks earlier; that case involved persons linked to the Native Syndicate street gang and resulted in a separate conviction.

Does anyone have information about Janine’s movements on the evening of December 8, 2004, or about who might have brought her to that house?