Police said Monday that a toll-free tip line has been established in their investigation of into any potential deaths at the former Mohawk Institute residential school in Brantford “where criminality is suspected.”
The investigation is being carried out by a multi-jurisdiction task force comprising investigators from Six Nations and Brantford police and the Ontario Provincial Police criminal investigation branch, with support from the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario.
Police said investigators want to hear from survivors of the Mohawk Institute, who have any information about missing children or witnessed any criminal acts that could have led to the deaths of children at the school. The number to call is 1-888-523-8587. The tip line is monitored 12 hours a day and calls will be returned with 24 hours.
Last July, Mohawk Institute survivors requested that police investigate allegations of abuse at the school, as well as the circumstances surround the deaths of missing children.
Last November, a search, using ground-penetrating radar, began for unmarked graves on the site of the former school. The work was shut down for the winter in mid-December.
Eventually, 600 acres will be searched in and around the former school, taking at least two years to cover.
The National Center for Truth and Reconciliation has documented evidence of 52 children who died at the Mohawk Institute, which was the longest-running of Canada’s residential schools, operating for 142 years.