Search continues for missing Manitoulin Island woman

Juanita Migwans of the M’Chiging First Nation on Manitoulin Island has been missing for more than a month, but her aunt says she hasn’t given up on the search.

“You know, we have some suspicions,” Migwans’ aunt Mary Ashcroft said.

“One is that she is still on Manitoulin Island and is no longer with us. The second is that she was taken against her will somewhere in Ontario, possibly the Toronto area or the Hamilton area.”

Ashcroft said her 30-year-old niece, who is a mother, had plans to become a social worker and had spent some time in college to that end.

“Unfortunately, things went badly for her and she became involved in the drug world on the island,” Ashcroft said.

“(She) hasn’t done well since then. That’s where it started to pick up steam.”

Ashcroft doesn’t live on Manitoulin, but says the drug trade has taken hold there and ruined people’s lives.

The local police also stated this.

In April, the United Committee of Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin (UCCM) of the Anishnaabe police created a drug enforcement unit to combat the drug trade on the island, based on concerns from local residents.

UCCM was unable to comment on Migwans’ disappearance, but Ashcroft said the police service had “done an exceptional” effort to find her niece.

“When she was first reported missing, they immediately took action,” she said.

“They have a team of 16 people, I think, between the UCCM, which is the tribal police, and the OPP. they had a RIDE campaign where they passed out “Juanita is Missing” signs.

Despite these efforts, Ashcroft said police still have no evidence of what may have happened to Migwans or where she may have been.

She said a general lack of trust in police in the community and fear of drug dealers in the area are hampering their search efforts.

“They were having problems with people opening their doors and talking to police,” Ashcroft said.

But Ashcroft added that people in the community can anonymously share any information they have about the disappearance of the Migwan.

“The only thing we know now is that someone knows where she is,” she said.