Fonassa Lynn Louise Bruyere was a 17-year-old First Nations girl from Sagkeeng First Nation who disappeared from Winnipeg’s North End after getting into a green two-door pickup with tinted windows in the early morning of August 9, 2007. Her sister saw the truck circle the area near Aikins Street and Selkirk Avenue; the man who got out was described as having short hair, a moustache and a prominent nose. Fonassa did not return and was reported missing after family members’ attempts to file concerns met resistance because she had run away and lived on the streets at times.

Her remains were found in a field near Ritchie Street and Mollard Road on August 30, 2007. Police classified the death as a homicide; the family says they were told she had been stabbed 17 times and sexually assaulted and that there was DNA under her fingernails, but those specific forensic details were reported by family rather than released by police. Investigators examined people in her circle and followed leads including the green pickup and, later, possible links to other offenders, but no one has been arrested or charged in her killing. The case remains unsolved and investigators continue to seek information about the truck, its driver and what happened between August 9 and August 30, 2007.

Did anyone in Winnipeg’s North End recognize a green two-door pickup with tinted windows or the man described near Aikins and Selkirk on the morning of August 9, 2007?