The identity of a family who perished in Manitoba was revealed Thursday.
Last week, RCMP said they found four people, including a young child and a teenager, dead just meters from the Canada-US border, about 10 miles from Emerson, Man.
The four have now been identified as Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, a 39-year-old man, Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, a 37-year-old woman, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, an 11-year-old girl, and Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, a three-year-old boy. .
RCMP apologized for initially identifying Vihangi Patel as a boy.
Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel (left to right), son Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, wife and mother Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel and daughter Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel are shown on a handout photo. Officials in Ottawa say they have confirmed the identities of four Indian citizens whose bodies were found frozen last week in Manitoba near the Canada-US border. THE CANADIAN PRESS / HO-Amritbhai Vakil.
Handout
“All four were Indian citizens,” the Indian High Commissioner for Ottawa said. “The next of kin of the deceased have been notified.”
“Canadian authorities have also, after medical examination, informed that, based on the circumstances, it has been determined that the deaths of all the persons correspond to exposure to the outdoor elements.”
The night the four left, January 19, temperatures fluctuated near -30 C with strong winds, blowing snow and blizzard-like conditions.
RCMP said they were still investigating how the family managed to reach Emerson.
RCMP is searching for victims near the US / Canada border.
RCMP Manitoba
The four arrived in Toronto for the first time on January 12, 2022, says Rob Hill, criminal operations officer of the RCMP, and from there to Manitoba. They eventually traveled to Emerson on or about Jan. 19, he said.
No vehicle was found on the Canadian side of the border, Hill said, leading investigators to “believe it was a case of human trafficking.”
RCMP looks at “every aspect” of the family’s stay in Canada, and said anyone who has interacted with them is asked to call RCMP at 431-489-8551.
“Any information about their time in Canada will be incredibly helpful to our investigators.”
A Florida man has been arrested after their deaths.
Steve Shand is seen in an undated handout photo at the Grand Forks County Correctional Center in North Dakota. Shand was arrested after the bodies of four people were found near the Canada-US border near Emerson, Man. THE CANADIAN PRESS / HO-Grand Forks County Correctional Center.
GAC
Steve Shand is a former waiter who ran his own taxi business and declared bankruptcy four years ago. He was arrested last week.
Shand is charged with human trafficking – specifically one charge of knowing or reckless disregard for the fact that a stranger came to the United States in violation of the law, entered or stayed there, transported and relocated or attempted to transport and move such aliens.
U.S. authorities have said they suspect Shand may be part of a larger network that smuggled Indian citizens from Manitoba on foot to Minnesota in icy winter temperatures.
According to US officials, the four were part of a larger group of Indian citizens who tried to cross into the US illegally.
Read the statement here:
One of the Indian citizens who survived the trek across the border told the U.S. Border Patrol that he had paid a large sum of money to come to Canada with a fraudulent student visa from India. He said he did not intend to stay or study in Canada, but rather intended to move to the US illegally.
In addition to the four people who died while trying to cross the border, two others were seriously injured – a man and a woman suffered severe freezing.
According to an affidavit by U.S. Special Agent John D. Stanley, five members of the group were outfitted in matching outdoor gear.
“I noticed that five of them were equipped with identical cold weather equipment. “They had everyone who looked like new black-in-color winter coats with fur-trimmed hoods, black gloves, black balaclavas and insulated rubber boots,” Stanley said in his affidavit.
One person in the group had a backpack he told officials he was carrying for a family of four who had separated from the larger group. The backpack contained children’s items such as clothes, a cloth and toys.
RCMP declined to say last week what the four who died wore.
– with Stewart Bell files
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca