“No foul play” in Bonnie Atagootak’s death, family learns

Updated 3:30 p.m., Feb. 4

Warning: parts of this story may bring distress to some readers.

The sister of the late Bonnie Atagootak has learned from the Ottawa Police Service that there was no foul play in the woman’s sudden death last week.

“Yes there’s no foul play, other than that I cannot say more at the moment,” Susie Pewatoaluk told Nunatsiaq News, saying she got the information from the Ottawa police yesterday.

“My sister’s body will be sent to funeral home. What we need to pay is funeral home cost and the body I believe,” she said on Facebook.

The OPS confirmed later, in a tweet, that they do not suspect foul play in Atagootak’s death but that they continue to investigate.

We are saddened to have lost a member of our community.

Our thoughts remain with her family and friends and all those impacted.#ottnews https://t.co/F7yufQi1zy

— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) February 4, 2020

Atagootak, 34, died suddenly in Ottawa last week after she was reported missing on the evening of Jan. 29. On Jan. 30, police found her body behind the Embassy West senior’s residence, near Carling Ave. and Kirkwood Ave.

The Ottawa police first described the death as suspicious, and some family members, including Pewatoaluk, thought Atagootak had been killed by someone.

“Thank you so very much for supporting and prayers. And forgive me, I thought she was killed,” she said on Facebook.

Last week, Pewatoaluk launched a fundraiser on Facebook to help her elderly parents bring their daughter’s remains back home to Pond Inlet for a funeral.

“I am trying to help my mother out since she asked me to try to get her body here,” Susie Pewatoaluk said in the Facebook fundraiser page, which she posted on Jan. 31.

“My mother is an elder and my stepfather would really like my sister’s body up here,” she said.

If you want to donate to the fundraising campaign, go to this page on Facebook.

Atagootak, a mother of three—two boys and a girl—had been looking forward to her 35th birthday.

“She was 34, turning 35 on Feb. 16, and she was excited about it,” Pewatoaluk said.

She said Atagootak, originally from Pond Inlet, had been living in Ottawa for about five years.

The oldest of her three children, aged 16, is back in Pond Inlet, but the other two, aged about 12 or 13, are still in Ottawa. Her husband, Ivan Atagootak, is in Ottawa also.

She also thanks all those who have been offering emotional support in the wake of her sister’s tragic death.

“I thank everybody for their condolences and prayers. I thank all the people who have been praying for us,” Pewatoaluk said.

Tungasuvvingat Inuit released a statement last Friday saying that Atagootak was a “valued member of the urban Inuit community” and that they’ve made counsellors available to any member of the Ottawa Inuit community or their staff who need someone to talk to.