THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay police are investigating a death at a south side motel as a homicide, after finding a body at the Kingsway Inn on Christmas Eve.
The Thunder Bay Police Service identified the victim as Ivan Achneepineskum, 21, from Marten Falls on Wednesday. Police said Achneepineskum had been residing in Thunder Bay with his family.
Officers were dispatched to multiple addresses in the afternoon of Dec. 24 to locate a male who family had not heard from. It was not yet clear if Achneepineskum had died on that date or earlier, police said Wednesday.
The case was deemed a homicide investigation on Tuesday, Det.-Sgt. Jason Ryback said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“There’s individuals that we’re looking for,” Rybak said, but declined to provide details on suspects or persons of interest in the case.
“I can say my investigators have a good handle on this investigation,” he said. “I’m confident that they will identify the people responsible in a very short period of time.”
A post-mortem is pending and will take place in Toronto, police said. The police service's major crimes and forensic identification units are involved in the ongoing investigation.
Police maintained a strong presence at the motel, with three cruisers and a forensics van present on Tuesday and one cruiser remaining on scene Wednesday.
Asked about the time elapsed between the discovery of Achneepineskum’s body and notification to the public, Ryback said the investigation had been complicated by holiday closures.
“Some of the video took us to other businesses that were closed,” he said. “We unfortunately had to wait until we could get access to those videos.”
“We’re reviewing days and days of video, it’s very labour intensive. Some of these cameras aren’t motion-activated, so we’re literally watching frame-by-frame — we can’t miss any detail.”
Thunder Bay police have reported 15 homicides so far in 2022, making it the deadliest year on record for the city. The highest previous total was 11 homicides, in 2014.
Anyone with information that could assist investigators is asked to contact police at (807) 684-1200 or submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.p3tips.com.
Police are specifically asking residents in the area to provide any camera footage they may have from Dec. 24 and the preceding or following days.
