Post by watchdog on Jan 31, 2008 2:37:00 GMT -5
Freezing deaths of 2 girls shock Sask. community
Updated Wed. Jan. 30 2008 7:53 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
TORONTO -- A Saskatchewan First Nations community is grieving the loss of two toddlers who froze to death, wearing only T-shirts and diapers, as winds pushed temperatures down to -50 C.
Police discovered the body of a one-year-old girl Wednesday on the Yellow Quill First Nation, east of Saskatoon. Her three-year-old sister had been found in the snow the day before.
"This is such a tragedy," Margaret Roper, a cousin of the girls, told CTV Regina. "Our community is going to be suffering for quite a while. These were two small children."
Yellow Quill First Nation Chief Robert Whitehead told CTV Newsnet he had taken calls from many people on the reserve, struggling to deal with the girls' deaths.
"From the people that I've talked to, they are very affected, very deeply, from what's happened here. For some it hasn't really sunk in yet, they're numb," he said by phone.
Whitehead added that some in the community "were very distraught, crying, hoping it wasn't true."
The father of the girls was picked up by police early Tuesday morning, suffering from exposure to the extreme cold.
It wasn't until about eight hours later that the man, recovering in hospital, told police his two daughters were missing.
"He was conscious, he was awake," said RCMP Sgt. Brad Kaeding. "There is some suspicion that alcohol was a contributing factor."
Kaeding said it's believed the man's level of intoxication may have prevented him from telling hospital staff or RCMP about his daughters.
Police believe the man left his residence to go to another house about 400 metres away. The man is also believed to have left his house with his children.
"He really loved and cared for them," Bernita Pauchay, the girls' aunt, said of the father. "He's going through a lot right now, having to realize the mistakes that he's done."
Kaeding said the three-year-old girl was found between the two homes.
CTV's Mike Ciona, reporting from the reserve, said the one-year-old was also found in the same area.
The mother of the children lives in the community but it is unclear what she was doing during the time period in question, said Kaeding.