Death of Tina Fontaine
Tina Fontaine | |
|---|---|
September 2013 school photograph of Fontaine | |
| Born | Tina Michelle Fontaine 1 January 1999 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Disappeared | 8 August 2014 (aged 15) Downtown Winnipeg |
| Died | c. 10 August 2014 (aged 15) |
| Body discovered | Red River, Winnipeg |
| Resting place | Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba, Canada |
Tina Michelle Fontaine (1 January 1999 – c. 10 August 2014) was a First Nations teenage girl who was reported missing and died in August 2014. Her case is considered among the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada, and her death renewed calls by activists for the government to conduct a national inquiry into the issue.
In December 2015, a suspect was charged with second-degree murder in her case. However, no forensic evidence or eyewitnesses that could directly link him to her death was presented and the cause of her death was never established. He was acquitted by a jury in February 2018. The case of Tina Fontaine helped prompt the Canadian government to commit to creating an independent national inquiry into the issue of murders and violence against Indigenous women, which was started in 2017.
Fontaine was buried on Sagkeeng First Nation next to her father.