Police are beginning a search of the Saskatoon landfill on Wednesday as part of their investigation into the 2020 disappearance of Mackenzie Lee Trottier.
The search will focus on a specific area of the landfill that is about 930 cubic metres and one metre deep, and could take as long as 33 days.
When they announced the search last month, police said information from some seized devices led them to the location in late 2023, but experts advised that waiting until this time of year would be the best time to conduct the search.
“On one hand we would like to find nothing and then we’ll continue looking,” deputy chief Cameron McBride said at the announcement. “On the other hand, we may find her and then we’ll proceed down the next course of the investigation.”
Trottier, who was 22 when she went missing, was last seen on Dec. 21, 2020.
Her family has worked to bring attention to her case, including conducting an interprovincial poster campaign in 2021 and offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to her return.
Her father, Paul Trottier, spoke at the news conference when police announced the landfill search.
“Mackenzie is our first-born — or as we call her, Mac,” he said. “She loves animals, is very bright and has always been prepared to take those under her wing who need help.”
Prior landfill search
Saskatoon police have experience searching the landfill, as outlined in a podcast they released last year into the disappearance of Kandice Singbeil.
Singbeil is a 32-year-old mother who went missing in 2015. At one point, police believed she may have been killed and her body placed in a downtown dumpster. It turned out not to be the case, but the podcast detailed how police approached the search.
Saskatoon’s deputy police chief, Cam McBride, joined the parents of Mackenzie Trottier, Paul and Gina, to announce the search of the city landfill in May. Police say information extracted from “devices” has led them to a specific 930 cubic metre area of the landfill to look for Mackenzie, who disappeared in December 2020.
They used cadaver dog teams from the Calgary Police Service, and forensic anthropologist Ernie Walker assisted with the search.
Saskatoon police have said Calgary police and Walker will be helping with the search for Trottier, as well.