‘She deserves better’

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This article was published 24/06/2017 (2496 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Isabel Daniels always believed no matter what life threw at her, she would always have her best friend Cara Lynn Hiebert to lean on.

All that changed one shocking day in 2011 when Daniels got the news her best friend had been the victim of a violent killing inside her own North End home.

‘I still struggle with her being gone. I miss having my best friend. I never thought that I would have to go through these milestones in my life without her here’– Isabel Daniels, best friend of murder victim Cara Lynn Hiebert

“The day I found out, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I had a severe panic attack,” Daniels said.

“I still struggle with her being gone. I miss having my best friend. I never thought that I would have to go through these milestones in my life without her here.”

Daniels, who is now 36 years old, can’t turn to Cara Lynn Hiebert anymore as she had done since they became friends when they were both 13.

“We went through everything together,” Daniels said. “We both didn’t have the best upbringing, but we had each other to count on.

“We grew up together.”

Daniels and Hiebert were also there for some of the most important moments in each other’s lives.

“I was her labour coach for three of her children, and she was always at the hospital when I gave birth to my daughters.

“She was my best friend.”

Cara Lynn Hiebert was 31-years-old and a mother of four children when construction workers discovered her body in the basement of her home at 506 Redwood Ave., on July 19, 2011.

According to a Winnipeg Police press release from July 20, 2011, officers and emergency responders were sent to the home around 12:20 p.m. on July 19, 2011, after getting a report of what they called “suspicious circumstances.”

“Upon arrival, officers located a deceased female within the residence with upper body injuries, consistent with being physically assaulted,” Winnipeg Police said in the 2011 press release.

The killing of Cara Lynn Hiebert has never been solved, and it is something Daniels said she lives with every day.

“I can now say her name and tell her story without crying, but missing her doesn’t get easier. I miss our friendship so much,” she said.

Daniels was asked what she knows about Hiebert’s murder, but said giving many of the specific details she knows is simply too difficult.

“I will leave this question for police to answer,” Daniels said. “Sorry, I do know the details, but she was a victim of horrible violence and to talk about what her home looked like is hard for me.

“But what I will say though, I could see from the luminol stains it was a severely violent death.”

Luminol is a chemical used by forensic investigators to detect blood at crime scenes.

She added she believes Hiebert was dragged to the basement of her home, and left there to die of blunt force trauma.

Winnipeg Police were sent a detailed request for information on the Cara Lynn Hiebert case, but offered no new information.

“This is still and active and open investigation being investigated by the Homicide Unit,” Winnipeg police said in an email.

“We are still actively seeking information from the public on this case and welcome any tips. Because this is an ongoing investigation we cannot provide any further information at this time.”

Hiebert was a mother to four children and her oldest child, Jordan Belyk, said life has not been easy since losing his mom when he was only 14 years old. “Finding out that I lost the woman who gave me life made my heart drop to my stomach,” 20-year-old Belyk said. “I was in disbelief and devastated, it crushed my world.”

He said the way he lost his mom sent him down the wrong path, and eventually led to him seeking help to cope with the loss.

“It made me angry and I turned to substance abuse and had to go to counselling,” Belyk said. “It affected everybody that was in her life,”

He now wants people to remember his mom for the person and the mother she was, and not for the tragic way she died.

“To anyone who remembers my mom, they knew that she was a caring kind-hearted person who would help anyone in need. She was loyal to friends and tried to be the best parent to all her kids.” Belyk said.

Belyk now spends many days and nights thinking about the fact there are people out there that know what happened to his mom when she was killed inside her home.

“It keeps me up at night knowing there is no justice served and how people know she was a mother of four and still haven’t come forward,” he said.

“I just pray and put my faith in God that one day we will have all the answers.”

Belyk and Daniels said the loss of Hiebert was also a loss for those needing a hand in Winnipeg’s inner-city community, as Hiebert was always helping others and supporting inner-city children and youth.

“Cara’s house was always filled with the neighbourhood kids.” Daniels said. “She lived in the inner-city, and I believe that she thought it was better for kids to have a place to hang out or a place to sleep, then to put them out in the streets.

“She was always making sure everyone in her house had something to eat and a blanket and bed to sleep on.”

That love Hiebert had for helping and feeding children has now led to an annual event put on by Daniels that raises money to help feed inner-city children, while also working to honour the memory of Hiebert, and raising awareness about the unsolved case.

Daniels will host the 5th annual Rock Against Hunger event at La Garage Café at 66 Provencher Blvd. on Friday, August 18 from 8 p.m. to midnight, with proceeds going to help inner-city breakfast clubs.

Rock Against Hunger is a classic rock, blues and acoustic show with tickets available for $10 in advance, or $12 at the door.

More info on the show can be found by going to the Rock against Hunger 2017 page on Facebook, or by calling Daniels at 204-795-2921.

“Proceeds go back into the inner-city breakfast and lunch programs this year, and we will also be donating to the Indigenous Family Centre on Selkirk Avenue,” Daniels said.

For Daniels the loss of her best friend is something that has pushed her to find her own ways to heal, including traditional ceremonies.

“I do a lot of ceremonies,” she said. “I attend sweat lodges talking to elders for healing. Attending ceremonies helps our passed ones move on to their next journey in the afterlife.”

Daniels said Hiebert had been dealing with addictions issues around the time of her death, and said she wonders if some of the people she had been hanging around with might have been responsible for her death, or could come forward with information that could lead to an arrest.

Since she first got the news in 2011, Daniels said she has been focused on finding out who killed her best friend and why.

“I have to believe that justice will one day be served,” Daniels said. “People who commit such gross acts of violence cannot go without punishment for their crimes.

“She deserves better.”

Anyone with information about the death of Cara Lynn Hiebert is asked to call Winnipeg Police at 204-986-6222, or Winnipeg Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).