Friend reveals deadly secret about missing Manitoba woman

A Cree grandmother who says she's kept a deadly secret for more than 15 years wants to break her silence. She knows what happened to a woman who went missing in 1999. She claims the woman was murderedand she saysshe knows who killed her.

The woman, whofears for her safety if her name is disclosed,told the CBC this week that ElizabethDorion, who was last seen outsidePukatawaganin September 1999, was beaten, bound with rocks at her feet and then pushed into the nearby rapids.

Almost two months later,RCMPofficially declared her missing. Despite two ground searches, her body was never found.

• Read CBC's profile of Elizabeth Dorion
• See the database of Canada's missing and murdered women

The woman said shetried to getRCMPto investigate, but she admitted she never told them what she actually knew.Fear of reprisal kept her silent then -- and forthe years that followed.

"I was terrified," the woman, who wasa friend ofDorion's,said. "I was afraid for my own life.... if I said anything, I would end up the same way."

Atthe time of her disappearanceDorionwas 44, a motherof three and a widow, struggling with alcohol after the death of her husband.

On the day she went missing,Dorionspent the morning with her friend and two others. After that, her friend went homealone. Hours later, she heard the other friends talking aboutDorion, more specifically, how one of them killed her,she said.

Once they knew she'd heard them, she said she was warned not to tell anyone. What followed were years of threats,she said, and years of violence.

"I wear dentures on my upper and some down below because [I was kicked]with steel-toedboots[Iwas]stabbedbetween my legs, in the head and on my hand," she said, pointing to the scars.

Robbed of a relationship with her mother

Eventually,she moved toanother community, taking the secret along with her. Finally she broke her silence when shecalledoneof Dorion'sdaughtersand disclosed what she believed.

ForGeorginaSims, who was adopted as a baby and never knewDorion, herbirthmother, it was a bittersweet piece ofa puzzle she's struggled with for years.

"I only found my mother two weeks before she disappeared,"Simssaid, crying. "I have never, ever known whathappened to her. I needed answers."

No call from the RCMP

Neither woman has gone to theRCMPbut both said they want the police to investigate and would be willing to talk tothem.

Last Thursday, anRCMPspokesperson told the CBC they wanted to talk toSimsabout this latest twist to the case.But a week later,Simssaid no one from theRCMPhas called or visited her,even though they have her latestphone number.

Meanwhile,the woman who finally spoke out said she's stillafraidof reprisal, and rarely leaves her home.

"I'm a prisoner in my own home. I'm always afraid I'll meet one of [the alleged attackers]in the street," she told the CBC. "But I feel better. Like something just big has come off my shoulders. I feel light. I know [Elizabeth]is listening."

According to thePukatawaganRCMP,Dorionwas reported missing on Nov. 13, 1999.

She was last seen on Sept. 20, 1999 at a local fish camp called Mile 94, between Manitoba's The Pas andPukatawagan.

Dorion'sniece, Patricia Turner, said police were not diligent enough in their initial investigation of the incident.

"It is the worst because they didn't even try help us," she said.

She says her aunt was written off by police and society.

"Maybe like she was just another 'drunken Native,'" she said.