First Nations Voice

DECEMBER 2015 • PAGE 7 MooseHuntingConservation ClosureinSouthwesternManitoba TheManitobagovernmentisimplementingaconservationclosureofall moosehuntinginGameHuntingAreas(GHAs)29and29A,intheTurtle Mountainarea.Thisisinadditiontotheclosuresinandaroundwest-central andeasternManitoba.Theseclosuresarenecessarytoallowdeclining moosepopulationstorecover. TheconservationclosuretoallmoosehuntinginManitobanowincludesthe followingGHAs: 29,29A(TurtleMountainarea) 12(RedDeerLakearea) 18,18A,18B,18C(DuckMountainarea) 14,14A(Swan-Pelicanarea) 13,13A(PorcupineMountainarea) 26(NopimingArea) MoosehuntingisalsoclosedtolicensedhuntersinGHA19A,eastofDuck Mountain. TheprovincewillcontinuetoworkwithFirstNations,Metisandstakeholders toaddressallfactorscontributingtomoosepopulationdeclines. Formoreinformation,contact:ManitobaConservationandWater Stewardship,BoissevainDistrictOffice204-534-2028orBrandonRegional office204-726-6441,orvisitwww.manitoba.ca/conservation/wildlife PUBLIC NOTICE Jennifer Catcheway Jennifer Catcheway was heading from Grand Rapids to Portage La Prairie to celebrate her birthday with family when she went missing on June 19, 2008. She never showed up. Jennifer's family has been searching for her ever since. "She's gone but she's never forgotten. We think about her every day." Bernice Catcheway, Jennifer's mom said. "She enjoyed Christmas very much. It's a time for family and Jennifer is a very family-oriented person. We make sure she's very much a part of our Christmas." 'There's always something missing' Knowing that there will be someone missing from around the table makes the holidays so difficult for the families of missing children. Three moms from Manitoba share their own experiences with Christmastime since their children went missing. Holidays never the same after a child has disappeared Rhonda Ross, mother of Dwayne Ross, missing since October 2003: Christmas and the holiday time are not as happy as they used to be. There is always something missing. He's my son, and I miss him every day. During Christmas, we light a candle for him and keep him in our prayers. Sometimes the kids bring presents for their uncle—that is really hard. I just tuck the presents away. Me looking for my son took so much of me away from my other children. We don't celebrate anything the same way, and we don't have the same bond and closeness that we had before. I wish I could have everything back that's been taken from us. I now have eight grandchildren, and we really try to make the holidays special for them because they have so much joy—but it is very hard. If you know anything about Dwayne, Waylon, Jennifer or any other missing child, please call MissingKids.ca confidentially at 1-866-543-8477 and help these families find answers this Christmas. MissingKids.ca is a program of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. Visit www.missingkids.ca to learn more. Dwayne Ross Dwayne Ross was attending Grade 12 classes in Thompson from Manto Sipi Cree Nation when he disappeared one night while out walking with his cousin. His family has been marking the holidays without him for 12 long years. "One Christmas, I remember we gave Dwayne an acoustic guitar. He was so happy—he played for the whole family," Rhonda Ross said. "It's those times that I miss so much." Waylon Smith Waylon Smith's mom hasn't seen her boy since January 2006, when he disappeared while visiting family in the Lake St. Martin area. He was just 17. Waylon's family marked his birthday without him in November, and this month they'll have another Christmas not knowing what happened to him. "Every day is hard in its own way. Some are harder than others," said Waylon's mom, Debra Sinclair. "We just deal with it the best way we can." It's been 25 years since Cathy Lynn Williams was last seen. Although she lived in the R.M. of St. Andrews just outside the city, in August 1988 Cathy had been in Winnipeg looking for work. While the 21-year-old had been briefly studying accounting at Red River College, Cathy had taken some time off from her studies. On August 22, 1988 when Cathy was in Winnipeg applying for jobs, she went out for drinks with a friend that evening. A few hours before her disappearance, Cathy had also been at the Santa Lucia Pizza on St. Mary's Road in Winnipeg and she was last known to be going to a bar with an old friend from work. Cathy hasn't been seen since. At the time of her disappearance, Cathy had a slender build at 5'8" and 126 pounds, brown shoulder-length hair, brown eyes, and occasionally wore glasses. Project Devote, the Manitoba task force of the Winnipeg Police Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police focusing on missing and murdered exploited persons investigations, encourages anyone who can provide information about Cathy, or her disappearance, to contact police to help resolve this investigation. If you have information that can help with this investigation, Project Devote is eager to hear from you. Call investigators on the Project Devote tipline at 1-888-673- 3316. If you want to remain anonymous, you can call Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Project Devote Help InvestIgators FInD CatHy

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