An Oxford House family held a press conference in Winnipeg Sept. 6 to ask the public for information about 21-year-old Christine Wood of Oxford House, who has been missing since Aug. 19.
Wood was with her parents in Winnipeg to accompany another family member to a medical appointment. The former University of Winnipeg student went out for the evening Aug. 19 and never returned. Calls and texts to her cell phone have gone unanswered and no one has heard from her.
“Our family is begging anyone who knows anything to help us find our girl,” said her parents Melinda and George Wood in a press release. “We are desperate and need her home. We need to know that she is safe.”
Wood and her parents were originally scheduled to return home Aug. 25 but her parents have remained in Winnipeg to search for her.
The press conference was held at the Winnipeg office of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), which represents 30 Northern Manitoba First Nations including Oxford House.
“We had so hoped that Christine would be home safe with her family already,” said MKO Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson. “We are all really worried for her safety. Christine is one of too many missing indigenous women and girls – we can’t just sit back and wait. We all need to come together as a community to help this family and families like hers who are searching for their loved ones.”
Wood is 5’6” with an average build, brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen in the Polo Park area and is believed to be carrying a white purse. She is known to frequent the Osborne area of Winnipeg.
“While most parents are preparing to send their children back to school and off to college, this family is desperately searching for their missing girl,” said Christy Dzikowicz, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s director of missing children services. “They have no idea where their daughter is or if she is safe. We owe it to Christine and to her family to do all we can to find her and to ensure her safety.”
