A 19-year-old Native girl who went missing last September has been found dead in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Marie Lasas was known to friends as "kokum," a Native word for grandmother. Despite her young age, people said she was always protective of her peers and siblings. She was a mother to two children.
Police are treating the death as a homicide. Lasas was discovered June 30 under a pile of lumber behind a vacant house.
Lasas spent most of her teen years in foster care. She was working to finish high school when she went missing.
"She wanted to give her kids a good home. She had great future plans," Sue Meikle, an outreach worker, told Saskatchewan News Service.
Get the Story:Homicide victim 'strong, gentle, fiery' (Saskatchewan News Service 7/20)
Saskatoon police investigating homicide after identifying body (CBC 7/19) Relevant Links: Native Women Missing in Canada - http://www.missingnativewomen.ca/alert.html
