Drag the Red searchers get forensics crash course in Winnipeg

A group of Drag the Red volunteers is receivinga crash course in forensics by anthropologists at the University of Winnipeg.

Drag the Red searchers started their second year of combing theRedRiver inMay. The group has beendragginghooks from boats across the river bottom since last fall, driven to action afterthe death of Tina Fontaine.

• 2nd year of Drag the Red effort gets underway in Winnipeg

• Police will not help Drag the Red search river, will monitor safety

Researchers and volunteers with Drag the Redcame together at the U of W Saturday tolearn how to sharpen their efforts and search more safely.

Drag the Red organizerBernadetteSmith said they'reecstatic to have professionals participating thisyear.

"We were super happy,becausenow we have people who aretrainedin this sort of thing," she said, addingthegroup wants to be more targeted with what they turn over to police so as to not waste investigators' time.

"We asked if they could do a training day with our group so that we know exactly what we're looking for, are on the right track ... and that we're not bringing things in thatnecessarily don't need to be brought in."

Decomposed remains, biohazards

Emily Holland, an anthropology professor at Brandon University and a trained forensic specialist, said she wanted to help the group search more effectively, "so they're looking as critically and cautiously as they can."

"It's going to be very difficult. If you think about the scale of what these people are undertaking. there is a lot of land, a lot of water," she said.

She stressed the potential for dehydration, sun stroke andbeing exposed to biohazards associated with decomposed human remainsneeds to be taken intoaccountbefore venturing out onto the water.

Holland said one of the purposes of the course was to give volunteersa basic framework for how to spot bones in their search areas.

'What bone looks like'

"Bone can look like lotsof things. It has a very particular structure: hard dense outer layer, looks like a tube," said Holland,adding once bones are recovered they need to be sent to an expert to be identified.

"It's just about really making sure they know what bone looks like."

She added that searchers could come across partial remains on shorelines.

"These aren't nice things to think about but these are the kinds of things that happen," said Holland.

"As a forensic anthropologist, Ido that part of my work because people matter. Ican'tdo anything about what has happened to someone before, but Ican try to help find them. Ican help ID them and help tell their story and bring closure to families."

Learning curves

Smith said the extra help is encouraging her and other volunteers to keep at it, despite the challenges encountered last year.

"Last year we hit a lot of learning curves. Wereally didn't know what we were doing," said Smith.

"We're going to continue to learn with the efforts of other people who have the expertise."

Chris Speidal got involved last year because he's good friends with Tina Fontaine's mom. Hestarted out by drivingvolunteers to and from search locations before getting involved on the ground.

"It was emotional, knowing all of the people that were missing," he said."Before I never thought much of it, until it hit home, so that's what really inspired me to do it."

Drag the Redplans to search every day until October.