No one saw anything: Bearing witness to the ongoing catastrophe of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada

On July 20, 2013, Bella Laboucan-McLean fell 31 stories off the balcony of a condo tower in downtown Toronto. She had been at a small gathering inside one of the building's many glass boxes. There were five other people in the condo that night.

A resident of a lower-floor heard the sound of her body falling and alerted the police.

Bella was 25 years old, Cree from Northern Alberta.

The police deemed the death "suspicious."

I'll say.

Five people besides Bella in an 800 square foot condo. All of Bella's belongings still inside: Purse. Wallet. Shoes. Phone.

Yet for 12 hours after her deadly fall, no one in the apartment calls the police. It is not until the building is crawling with cops going door-to-door, trying to identify the body, that one of those five people picks up the phone to report Bella missing.

Everyone who was there claims they saw nothing. Knows nothing. No one will be a witness.