Man charged after four people found dead near Canada-U.S. border in Manitoba

Manitoba RCMP say the bodies of four people — two adults, a teen and an infant — were found on the Canadian side of the U.S./Canada border near Emerson on Wednesday.

Jane MacLatchy, Manitoba’s commanding officer, said all four were located within 9-12 metres of the border.

Police are referring to them as victims, as there are concerns the group’s attempted border crossing was facilitated in some way, and that they were left out in the extreme cold.

MacLatchy said work is underway to ID the victims, but at this stage it appears they all died from exposure to the cold.

An immediate search began on both sides of the border, and by that afternoon, the bodies of an adult man, an adult woman, and an infant were found. The body of a boy believed to be in his mid-teens was found shortly afterward.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district of Minnesota issued a release late Thursday afternoon and said 47-year-old Steve Shand of Florida had been arrested and charged with human smuggling in connection with the incident.

Shand was driving with two passengers determined to be undocumented foreign nationals from India, according to the release.

Inside the vehicle officers found found cases of plastic cups, bottled water, bottled juice and snacks in the van. As they were taking the trio back to the border patrol station in North Dakota, officers came across another group of five Indian nationals walking.

They said they had walked across the border and had expected to be picked up by someone. The group said they estimate they had been walking for more than 11 hours.

Two of them had serious injuries and were transported to a hospital, the release stated.

One person in the group had a backpack he told officials he was carrying for a family of four they had become separated from that contained children’s items such as clothes, a diaper and toy.

The bodies have been tentatively identified as that family of four, the release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The 47-year-old suspect is in custody pending a preliminary and detention hearing Monday.

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RCMP continued to scour the area after the bodies were discovered, but no further victims have been found.

“It’s very difficult terrain,” said MacLatchy. “When they originally started the search, they realized very quickly that the snow was very deep, drifted in spots.

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