‘I’m still looking for answers’

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This article was published 14/06/2022 (1355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The children of a 22-year-old woman who died after an SUV crashed into a tree in Winnipeg, as the driver allegedly fled police, are struggling to comprehend their loss.

Victoria Lindell’s mother, Anita Umpherville, said she and her daughter’s common-law partner have tried to gently explain the death to sons Cadrian, four, and Montana, three.

“They thought their mother was sleeping, and as soon as they closed that casket they started crying,” Umpherville told the Free Press on Monday. “They said, ‘No, mommy is sleeping.’

“They were asking if she was going to get up, and they didn’t want us to close the casket. It was really difficult for them to understand. It made everybody cry.”

Mourners attended Lindell’s funeral June 10 in Moose Lake, where she spent much of her childhood. The small northern community is just over an hour’s drive east of The Pas.

She was remembered for her “infectious” laugh, an ability to “light up a room,” and her children being her pride and joy.

“She was outgoing and happy. She was really close to her kids,” said Umpherville, who is waiting for more information about the moments leading up to the May 30 fatal collision, after being visited by investigators.

Lindell loved to play outdoors with her sons, spend time with her sisters and make TikTok videos while hanging out with friends.

She was focused on her raising her sons, but told family she wanted to one day go to college to become a nurse.

Lindell, who lived in Swan River, was visiting relatives in Winnipeg with her mother when she was involved in the collision.

According to police, Lindell was a passenger in the sport utility vehicle, which crashed into a tree on Truro Street, between Ness and Silver avenues, in St. James.

Umpherville said she last saw her daughter about an hour before the incident, when Lindell asked if she could borrow her mother’s vehicle.

“She told me that she loved me and said, ‘I’ll be right back,’” Umpherville said by phone from Moose Lake. “She said she was going out… for a ride. She was with her cousins.”

Umpherville doesn’t know why the trio was in St. James.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has taken over the probe of the incident. The IIU investigates all serious incidents involving police.

In an earlier news release, Winnipeg police said officers attempted to stop the vehicle in the Deer Lodge area around 12:45 a.m.

The man who was driving failed to stop and fled the scene, said police. Officers located the crashed vehicle a short time later.

Paramedics transported Lindell to Health Sciences Centre, where she was pronounced dead, according to an IIU news release issued May 30.

The SUV’s driver and a second passenger — a female in her teens — were removed from the van and taken to HSC in unstable condition.

A family member called Umpherville to inform her of the crash. The mother said she “didn’t want to believe” it when she was told her daughter, niece and nephew were in hospital with injuries.

As she tried to contact her daughter, Umpherville went to HSC, which is close to where she was visiting relatives, in an effort to find out which hospital Lindell had been taken to.

Later, after her daughter died, Umpherville visited the crash site. The SUV had been removed and investigators had cleared the scene.

“There were a lot of pieces of my vehicle laying around there. It was really difficult for me,” said Umpherville. “I’m still looking for answers.”

Neither police nor the IIU has explained why officers attempted to stop the SUV.

The WPS declined to release additional details, due to the IIU investigation.

The IIU, which declined to comment further, has requested oversight from a civilian monitor assigned by the Manitoba Police Commission.

MPC-trained civilian monitors are mandatory in cases where a death may have occurred as a result of the actions of a police officer, according to the commission’s website.

Anyone with information about the collision or video footage is asked to call the IIU at 1-844-667-6060.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching