Garden Hill family looking for answers one year after daughter’s disappearance

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This article was published 14/07/2021 (1892 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On the anniversary of her disappearance, the family of Tammy Nattaway is appealing for someone to come forward with answers about what happened to her.

Nattaway, 16, of Kistiganwacheeng, also known as Garden Hill First Nation, was last seen July 14, 2020.

“I knew she wouldn’t run away,” her mother, Cecile Stephanie Nattaway, said in a release put out by the RCMP.

“She was timid. She wouldn’t run off. She would barely even walk to the convenience store by herself. We always knew where she was. We knew something else was going on.”

The RCMP said when the family checked with people they knew at the reserve — as well as at Minithayinikam (St. Theresa Point First Nation) and Wasagamack First Nation — and no one knew where the teen was, they contacted police on July 31, 2020.

Volunteers and RCMP spent hundreds of hours searching, on the ground as well as in the air and on water, looking for Nattaway.

“We have received and followed up on numerous tips and have interviewed more than 100 people as part of this investigation,” said Sgt. Gary Bird of the RCMP’s major crime services.

“We do suspect foul play in Tammy’s disappearance. Our investigative team is working hard to find answers for Tammy’s family and we continue to follow up on any and all information received.”

RCMP are asking anyone with information to call Island Lake RCMP at 204-456-2626, leave an anonymous tip at Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or send in a tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

“We’re all waiting for her to come home,” said Lena Harper, Nattaway’s grandmother.

“We want answers. We want justice. We will never give up looking for her.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca