APRIL 4 UPDATE:
Akwesasne Mohawk Police say their investigators now believe Casey Oakes was connected to the eight deceased victims recovered from the water on March 30 and March 31. The investigation continues to evolve. Police will not provide any further information at this time.
INDIAN media are reporting that the Indian family members who were among the eight people who died while attempting to cross into the U.S. from Canada earlier this week are from the Indian state of Gujarat.
A family member, Jasubhai Chaudhary of Manekpur village in Mehsana district Gujarat, told the media that he believes the dead are his brother,
Praveeni Chaudhary, 50, and his wife Diksha, 45, and their son Meet, 20, and daughter Vidhi, 24, who had left for Canada two months ago on visitor’s visas.
He said that when his attempts to contact his brother on Saturday were unsuccessful, he started to suspect that the dead were his family members.
Chaudhary said his family found the names of the victims circulating on Whatsapp groups of his relatives in Canada.
A government official told the media that residents of Manekpur village had approached the Mehsana district administration to help them bring back their bodies from Canada.
Just over a year ago, on January 19, 2022, the family of four Indian nationals who froze to death approximately 12 metres from the US/Canada border in Manitoba while allegedly trying to cross the border illegally into the US were also from a village in the state of Gujarat.
LAST Thursday, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police announced that they were investigating after the bodies of six deceased individuals were located during an air search with assistance from the Canadian Coast Guard. The first body was located around 5 p.m. in a marsh area in Tsi Snaihne (Snye) Akwesasne, Quebec. The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Marine unit continued to search the area with assistance from the Coast Guard and the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department.
The Akwesasne Mohawk Police said it would seek assistance from the Sûreté du Québec and the Ontario Provincial Police air support units to assist with the investigation.
Then, on Friday, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police announced that two additional bodies had been recovered: one infant, a Canadian citizen of Romanian descent, and one adult female believed to be an Indian national.
Police said all were believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the U.S. from Canada. They said they were working with Immigration Canada and Homeland Security to confirm their identities so that next-of-kin notifications could be made.
Police also said they were continuing to search the waterways for missing person Casey Oakes, who was reported missing to the Akwesasne Mohawk Police on Thursday. They added that they could not confirm that the two incidents are related.
On Saturday, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police announced that one of the adult males, identified as 28-year-old Florin Lordache, had two Canadian passports in his possession, one for the two-year-old child that was recovered and the other for a one-year-old infant that was also recovered. One of the adult females had been identified as 28-year-old Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache.
They said that the identities of the four Indian nationals had not yet been confirmed and the next of kin had not yet been notified. They added that the names would only be released after they had been confirmed.
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