When Elle Harris got a phone call about potential human remains found at the landfill where searchers are trying to find her mother and another slain First Nations woman, she was overcome with a sinking feeling.
"My heart dropped right down to my stomach," she told reporters Thursday.
Since December, trained search teams, including forensic anthropologists, have been combing through debris at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg with the hopes of finding the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. The two women were killed at the hands of a serial killer in 2022.
The Manitoba government, which is spearheading the search with guidance from family members and First Nations leaders, announced Wednesday that suspected human remains had been discovered at the site.
It could take weeks for coroners to make a positive identification.
Families of the women and Indigenous leaders in the province advocated for years for a search of the landfill, taking their fight to Parliament Hill and the steps of the Manitoba legislature.
Elle Harris didn't mince words when she spoke of what went through her mind when the news came.
"To every one of you that said no (to a search), to every one of you that didn't believe in us, do better," she said while fighting back tears.
"How can you say no to somebody's little girl? That's my mom in there."
It's believed the remains of Morgan Harris and Myran ended up at the landfill after they were killed by Jeremy Skibicki. He was convicted last year of murdering Harris, Myran and two other Indigenous women.
A trial heard he targeted the women at homeless shelters in Winnipeg and disposed of their bodies in garbage bins in his neighbourhood.
The remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a garbage bin and at a different landfill. Those of an unidentified woman Indigenous grassroots community members named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, have not been located and police have not said where they might be.
Police and the previous Progressive Conservative government refused to search the Prairie Green landfill, citing safety concerns related to toxic materials and asbestos.
The Tories also ran advertisements in the 2023 election campaign that touted their decision to say no to a landfill search.
The NDP government, elected that year, promised a search and, in conjunction with the federal government, funded the effort that began after site preparation work was completed last year.
Relatives of Harris and Myran joined a press conference with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to express shock, anger and hope over the potential discovery.
"It makes my blood boil to know that they've dragged us these last two years through all this anguish, all this hurt, all this sorrow, all this fighting ... begging the government to do something, and here it happened and it's only just begun," said Melissa Robinson, cousin of Morgan Harris.
The search was to resume Thursday.
"It angers me that if people would have just listened to us in the first place, we would have brought these women home a lot sooner. They didn't deserve to sit in that landfill for as long as they did," said Myran's sister Jorden Myran.
The leader of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs called the discovery a significant moment in the families' fight for justice.
"It does definitely bring deep grief, but it also reinforces what we've known is that our stolen sisters deserve to be found, they deserve to be honoured and they deserve to be laid to rest with dignity," said Grand Chief Kyra Wilson.
Elle Harris also spoke about her healing journey over the past two years.
It has been a path with heartache, setbacks and successes, she said.
She has been able to graduate high school and move out on her own. But simple things like watching a movie that has a loving family in it can bring pain.
"It's heartbreaking to know I'm never going to be able to get that," she said.
