Family mourns woman, 23, pulled from river: ‘she wanted to live’

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This article was published 17/05/2018 (2794 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of a 23-year-old woman whose body was pulled from the Red River on Wednesday is calling on anyone with information to speak up.

April Carpenter was last seen in Winnipeg’s west end on April 23 around 8 p.m. Her family, friends, and members of the Mama Bear Clan community patrol have searched the neighbourhood in the weeks since. This was not the way the Carpenter family wanted to find her.

“We don’t believe that it was April’s choice to be in the river,” said Billy Dubery, a spokesman for the family. Dubery, flanked by Carpenter’s mother, sister, and supporters, spoke to reporters at Manitoba’s Legislature on Thursday.

“We’re pleading for anybody who might have any information on what happened in between the time April was last seen and when she ended up in the river to please come forward,” he said.

The family’s media event was arranged partly by NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine, who has publicly called for more thorough investigations into the deaths of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Dubery described Carpenter, an Indigenous woman with light brown hair cut at her shoulders and noticeable dimples, as caring and hopeful.

“She had a lot of love in her heart,” he said, “a lot of love for her friends and family.”

Winnipeg police have been fairly quiet so far about Carpenter’s case, as the investigation is in its early stages. They alerted the public when she went missing and Dubery said they’ve been in touch with family throughout the search, with communications increasing in the last week.

Emergency personnel found her body on the banks of the river somewhere in the 600 block of Kildonan Drive. They have yet to confirm a cause of death and in a release sent out Thursday morning, police said an autopsy is pending.

Dubery is adamant Carpenter would not have harmed herself.

“April had goals and visions and dreams,” he said. “She liked life, she wanted to live.”

Carpenter was living alone at the time of her disappearance, but was often in contact with her mother, Carolyn Carpenter, and her sister, Cheryl Carpenter. She was working on finishing her high school degree, Carolyn said, and dreamed of being a social worker.

“That was her goal,” Carolyn said, “She loved children.”

Dubery said the family needs time to process Carpenter’s death and grieve their loved one, but they want people to come forward with whatever information they might have that could help police investigate. And they want people to know what kind of person Carpenter was.

“She had a very big and kind heart,” Dubery said. “She wanted to pursue a life helping other people.”

The police investigation continues.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca