Arviat family wants woman’s disappearance investigated as homicide

The family of a woman who has been missing for almost a year wants RCMP in Arviat to investigate her disappearance as a homicide.

Kadin Savikataaq, 20, disappeared in the early hours of Aug. 20, 2024. The truck she was driving was located submerged in the ocean in an area of the hamlet known locally as the Point.

“The RCMP were there that night,” said Pauline Copland, the birth mother of Savikataaq.

“They didn’t take the incident seriously, thinking Kadin drowned just because the vehicle was in the ocean,” said Copland, adding officers did not treat the area as a crime scene.

Copland said the family wants her disappearnace investigated as a homicide.

Savikataaq is the adopted daughter of Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. and his wife Lillian, and the granddaughter of former premier Joe Savikataaq Sr.

When the tide is out, residents go out to the Point, which is on the seabed, on their ATVs and other vehicles. No one was found inside Kadin Savikataaq’s truck.

The family believes there are people who were with her in the truck the night she went missing, and that they might know more about what happened to her.

“Every time I contact [the police], they tell me Kadin’s case remains a priority, but nothing is moving,” Copland said.

There is nothing to suggest Kadin Savikataaq’s disappearance was a crime, said RCMP acting Supt. Kent Pike, and the case is still being treated as a missing persons file.

“When people came on the scene, there was a truck out on the ocean, submerged in water,” he said.

The immediate concern was for who was in the truck and who might be in the water.

Pike acknowledged that afterward, many people came to the RCMP with theories of what happened.

But based on the initial evidence, he said it appears as though Savikataaq may have been pulled into the ocean from the truck.

Pike pointed out that this is just one possibility.

Nunatsiaq News asked Pike about the family’s concerns there were people who know about what happened.

“Through the investigation, any names that either we uncovered or the family continues to bring names to us, we follow up with them 100 per cent,” Pike said, adding none of those people have so far provided credible information to add to the investigation.

“Can I say with a 100 per cent certainty what happened here? No,” Pike said.

“You can never say anything with a 100 per cent certainty in a case similar to this one. But we have a strong probability on what happened based on the evidence.”

Pike is aware the family wants the incident investigated as a homicide and said if evidence surfaces that leads police in that direction, the case will evolve.

He added the search is ongoing.

Last week, a police service dog and its handler were in the community checking the area where the truck was found and spots family members suggested. The dog and handler covered 40 kilometres on foot over three days.

Nothing was found.

The family would also like the RCMP to bring in ground penetrating radar, which is something Pike said he would look into.

Copland also criticized how the Nunavut Emergency Management — which oversees search and rescue operations in the territory — handled the initial search for Kadin Savikataaq. After a week, that initial search was called off. She believes the division did not deploy enough boats, airplanes or resources.