More than a hundred people gathered for a vigil in Winnipeg’s North End to mourn a Sagkeeng First Nation woman whose remains were identified more than two years after she was reported missing.

Family and supporters gathered around the place where Keeper’s remains were found Saturday afternoon for songs and words in her honour. They held roses and photos of the young mother, some showing her beaming beside her two daughters, now 13 and eight.

Darren Courchene said his parents fostered Keeper — who was born in Little Grand Rapids First Nation and raised in Sagkeeng — from when she was around 18 months old until she left home.

“To me, she’ll always be that little girl who came to us singing,” he said. “That was her little gift.”

Leah Keeper’s partial remains were discovered in a Selkirk Avenue back lane in late November. Police announced Wednesday DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to the woman, who went missing in 2023.

Courchene said his “little sister” was an exuberant person who dreamt of becoming a nurse after finishing high school, but who also loved to sing and had performed in small acting roles.

“She put her heart and soul into everything she did,” Courchene said.

“The biggest thing in her life were her two daughters…. The second she became a mom, her life was completely changed, and she was completely and utterly dedicated to those two little girls.”

Keeper was reported missing in November 2023, after not being seen for more than four months. Police said she was 32 at the time.

“Since I heard she was missing … I dream about her,” grandfather Colin Keeper, from Grand Rapids, Man., said.

“She said ‘Bye grandpa.’ Now it’s true. She’s gone.”

Keeper’s mother, Beverley Courchene, said she’d always hoped her daughter would be found in one of the several searches family and volunteers launched in the years following her disappearance.

“Sometimes, Creator doesn’t answer our prayers immediately, but he … answered my prayers,” she said. “I can have closure now and I can lay her to rest.”

Melissa Robinson, an advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and co-founder of outreach group Morgan’s Warriors, said at the vigil she hopes the family can find some closure now that she’s been found.

But Robinson said the community holds events like this far too often.

“What are we going to do to change that?” she said. “Something we talk about all the time is why are we waiting for these things to happen before we react?… What can we do now to prevent these things from happening?”

Winnipeg police said Wednesday Keeper’s death is considered suspicious, and that it’s investigating.

Darren Courchene said he needs to know what happened to his sister before he can fully move on.

“Whenever she felt a little down, she would sing.… Whenever I feel down, I start to sing now.”