RCMP ask for help filling gap in Indian family’s deadly trip from Toronto to Emerson

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This article was published 21/10/2022 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nine months after a family from India with two young children was found frozen to death near the United States border near Emerson, investigators still have no idea how they got there.

Manitoba RCMP said on Friday they are asking for the public’s help because, while they can trace the route the Patel family took to get from India to Canada, they don’t know how they travelled from Toronto to Emerson. To help jog memories, the RCMP have released a video showing the family, pushing luggage carts, walking through Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

“We have a specific gap in the Patels’ timeline between Jan. 15 to when they were so tragically discovered near the border on Jan. 19,” RCMP Sgt. Gary Bird said in a statement.

“We’re confident that people saw and helped the family during this time as they travelled more than 2,000 kilometres from Toronto to Emerson. We need these people to come forward and share what they know about the Patel family’s journey within Canada. Even the smallest bit of information could be significant. This should not have happened.

“Four lives, an entire family are gone.”

Jagdishkumar Patel, 39, his 37-year-old wife Vaishaliben, and their children — daughter Vihangi, 11, and three-year-old son, Dharmik — were found dead in the snow just 12 metres away from the American border south of Emerson on Jan. 19.

Temperatures overnight reached -35C while a blizzard raged.

Investigators believe the family was dropped off near the border and were trying to illegally cross into the United States with a larger group of people before they got separated from the others.

A search began on both sides of the border when U.S. border patrol picked up five members of the group wandering around on the American side and found a young child’s clothing, but a child wasn’t with them.

Steve Shand, a Florida resident and the driver of a van in which two Indian nationals were found that morning, has been charged with illegally taking two people into the U.S. and illegally transporting them. His trial is set to start early next year.

Manitoba RCMP said the months-long investigation has taken them across Canada and the United States to interview people and follow up on tips.

Investigators believe the family was likely involved with a human-smuggling network that was using secure-messaging applications to communicate.

The Patel family, after landing in Toronto Jan. 12 at about 2: 30 p.m., were housed in several homes and hotels before coming to Manitoba. They did not use commercial air, rail or bus to get here, RCMP say.

Anyone with information is asked to call the RCMP at 431-489-8551, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, or leave a secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca