TAKEN, a new Canadian podcast about missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, is launched by Eagle Vision

Winnipeg MB, Canada—Eagle Vision today announced that TAKEN the Podcast, a moving and emotional 10-part series that honours the stories and tries to uncover the truths behind Canada’s unresolved cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) is available now at www.takenthepodcast.com and on all major streaming platforms. The podcast was produced with the hope that new information will come to light, and these crimes will be solved. Produced by Eagle Vision, the award-winning team behind the TV documentary series TAKEN, the heart-wrenching series is hosted by Executive Producer Lisa Meeches (Anishinaabe from Long Plain First Nation) in English, and Sheila North in Cree.

Eagle Vision’s commitment to MMIWG and their families began when Meeches was expecting her first daughter. “When I found out I was having a daughter, I couldn’t hold back the thoughts and fears about the dangers our women and girls face. I wanted to do what I could to make a difference. That’s where the TAKEN series came from, and the podcast came out of that.” Meeches recognizes that “Canada is starting to wake up to the MMIWG issue. The National Inquiry was a start. The Calls for Justice are important. But these families want these cases solved. The time is now.” And she makes a plea to everyone, “If you know something, say something. Someone out there has answers; our goal is to find them."

Throughout the series, TAKEN the Podcast will speak with family members, law enforcement, advocates, academics, elders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and knowledge keepers to learn about the women and girls who were murdered and remain missing.

The first episode shares the story of Tina Fontaine, a 15-year-old girl whose body was pulled from the Red River in Winnipeg in August 2014, sparking international attention, and shining a spotlight on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

To find out more about Tina’s case, the producers dug deep and spoke with Tina’s great aunt Thelma Favel; Sargent John O’Donovan of the Winnipeg Police; Tina’s guidance counsellor, Cindy Guimonde; Nahanni Fontaine, the former Special Advisor on Aboriginal Women’s Issues for the Indigenous Issues Committee of Cabinet of Manitoba; a Spiritual Advisor Mary Wilson; Jody Wilson-Raybould, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and current Member of Parliament for the B.C. riding of Vancouver Granville; Honourable Carolyn Bennett, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs; and many others from the academic and NGO communities.

Stories covered in future episodes include:

• 78-year-old Emily Osmond, who was last seen by her nephew on her property on the outskirts of Kawacatoose First Nation, Saskatchewan, in September 2007. Her family believes she was taken, because Emily’s beloved dogs were abandoned, and she told no one she was leaving. This peaceful woman vanished without a trace.

• 20-year-old Cheyenne Fox, whose lifeless body was found on April 25, 2013, at the bottom of a Toronto high-rise. Earlier that day, multiple calls were made to 911 from a condo where Cheyenne was last seen alive, but when police arrived, it was too late.

• In 2008, in Quebec neighbouring communities Maniwaki and Kitgan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation best friends Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander vanished without a single clue.

• Jacqueline Crazybull (Alberta) who on July 11, 2007 was stabbed by a group of men in a seemingly random attack. That same night four other men and women of different ages and ethnicities were stabbed by the same group of men in separate incidents. They recovered from their injuries. Jackie Crazybull did not.

TAKEN the Podcast was made with the support from Women and Gender Equality Canada. Executive Producers are, Lisa Meeches (Burden of Truth, TAKEN) Kyle Irving (Burden of Truth, TAKEN), Showrunner / writer is Rebecca Gibson (TAKEN) and writer, Jacquie Black (TAKEN).

ABOUT EAGLE VISION:

Eagle Vision is one of the most prolific production companies in Canadian history with First Nations ownership. With content ranging from the Oscar-winning feature Capote to the international hit television series Ice Road Truckers, to the recent CBC/CW hit courtroom drama Burden of Truth, to the socially impactful CBC/APTN true-crime series TAKEN, and Canada’s longest-running Indigenous series The Sharing Circle, Eagle Vision remains committed to producing content for the Canadian and International marketplace. Eagle Vision most recently produced Deco Dawson’s feature film Diaspora, in over two dozen languages other than English, and Danis Goulet’s feature film Night Raiders with Taika Waititi executive producing.