The Fentanyl Files: What Happened to Kayla?

Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Murder Sheet
Episode: The Fentanyl Files: What Happened to Kayla?
Date: February 7, 2026
Hosts: Áine Cain (journalist), Kevin Greenlee (attorney)

This deeply moving episode examines the tragic story of Kayla, a young Canadian woman who died at age 33 from an accidental overdose involving fentanyl and cocaine in Whitehorse, Yukon. Through interviews with Kayla's father and stepmother (Les and Carrie Ray Mitchell), a review of official documents, and commentary from professionals involved in the case, the podcast explores issues of mental illness, drug addiction, systemic failures, grief, transparency, and the struggle for answers endured by families. The episode also serves as a call for societal change, especially around record access and support for families of overdose victims.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Introduction and Context

• Content warning: Discussions of mental illness, addiction, suicide, murder, and grief.
• Kayla passed away from an overdose in a “crack house” in Whitehorse at 33 years old. Her family has spent years trying to understand the full circumstances of her death and navigating a frustrating, opaque system.
• The hosts aim to illuminate systemic failures regarding transparency and support for suffering individuals and their families.
  • “Kayla was a daughter, a mother, a sister, a young woman with a bubbly laugh... who suffered a lot in her short life.” – Kevin Greenlee [03:56]

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Kayla’s Struggles: Family, Mental Health, and Early Trauma

[05:43 – 15:14]

• Kayla came into Les and Carrie’s (then stepmother) full-time care as a preteen, amidst a tumultuous family background and financial strain.
• She was artistic, “bubbly,” and enjoyed being with her younger siblings.
• Early signs of mental health struggles: changes in behavior as a teen, especially after the birth of her younger brother. Concern about safety of the new baby resulted in them putting cameras in the household [16:21].
• Hints that Kayla struggled with dissociative identity disorder (DID), attachment disorder, and later, bipolar disorder—all rarely accepted by her or certain other family members.
  • “She could lie really well... and she would always say, 'Oh, it wasn’t me. It was...my twin, Layla.'” – Les Mitchell [10:43]
  • “There was such, I think, a shame. Stigma attached to it… at her age at 14, I can't say myself that I would have wanted to accept it either.” – Les Mitchell [11:41]
• Family’s attempts to seek mental health assistance were frequently rebuffed or met with blame.
  • “You're the problem,” a mediator had once told the family, sowing lasting pain and guilt. – Carrie Ray Mitchell [13:38]

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Systemic Barriers and the Vicious Cycle of Care

[15:31 – 24:31]

• Mental illness symptoms intensified in Kayla’s adolescence. She cycled through hospitalizations, but received little information due to privacy policies once she was legally an adult.
• Frustration with privacy rules hampered family involvement in treatment, even when Kayla was in crisis:
  • “When you have a child with mental illness, I don't think that limit should be in place. Sixteen-year-old adult? No. You're always going to need your family support.” – Les Mitchell [22:47]
• Kayla was adept at compartmentalizing parts of her life, possibly as a coping mechanism or symptom.
• Her refusal or inability to accept her diagnoses left the family fearing for her ability to mother and manage without medication.

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Addiction and Homelessness

[24:31 – 32:17]

• After the birth of her children, Kayla’s untreated issues escalated into substance abuse—first weed, then harder drugs.
• Postpartum depression and separation from her own children intensified her mental health crisis; drug use became self-medication.
• Lack of consistent, long-term inpatient resources—especially severe in remote Yukon—created a “vicious circle”: “In order to get into the facility, you have to be clean. And it’s such a catch-22.” – Les Mitchell [33:57]

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Family’s Search for Answers After Kayla's Death

[39:18 – 53:06]

• Les recounts the harrowing moment he learned of Kayla's death and the sense of inevitability: “The next phone call I get is not going to be good news.” – Leslie Mitchell [39:40]
• Early indications from authorities (Major Crimes was involved) prompted confusion—why such involvement for an “overdose”?
• Their subsequent struggle involved repeated requests for police files, coroner’s reports, and clarity on events. Privacy and procedural barriers (Kayla’s ex-husband was considered next of kin) prevented access to Kayla’s information.
  • “We just want someone to say, okay, we... screwed up, or we didn't, or you're missing this component...” – Carrie Ray Mitchell [75:25]

Correspondence and Investigative Timeline

• Family reached out to victim services, the coroner, RCMP, politicians, and media with minimal success.
• Intermittent kindness and responsiveness (notably from Chief Coroner Heather Jones and Corporal Bowden) brought some comfort but rarely led to substantive information.

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The Coroner’s Report and Lingering Questions

[54:08 – 65:32]

• Chief Coroner’s May 2024 final report summarized:
  • Kayla died of fentanyl and cocaine toxicity. Her body was found in a child's plastic wagon outside the residence; a resident claimed he administered Naloxone before moving her outside.
  • The site was known to be a “crack house”; significant paraphernalia was found.
  • Kayla's mental health diagnoses and substance abuse history detailed.
  • No further criminal investigation; classified as “accidental” and case closed.
• The family was troubled by procedural irregularities and apparent lack of thoroughness—especially the absence of an autopsy, the manner in which Kayla’s body was handled, and persistent difficulties obtaining the full police report.

Notable Quotes:

• “We're not criminal experts... but my understanding was you can't touch a dead body or move a dead body...” – Les Mitchell [64:06]
• “It feels cruel. At this point, it feels like they are just willingly inflicting this emotional trauma, and it's so simple to just fix it... Let us see the report.” – Les Mitchell [78:15]

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Systemic Stonewalling and Societal Complacency

[66:07 – 79:39]

• Despite repeated attempts, family was blocked by privacy laws (AATIP/FOI only releases police reports with a court order or for estate settlement).
• Offers for mediated meetings with police failed to yield documentation.
• Multiple politicians, agencies, victim advocates, and journalists failed to help.
• Family feels abandoned, “stonewalled,” and suspects stigma around addiction led to deprioritization (“just another overdose”).
  • “Nobody will talk to us anymore. So if there is nothing to hide, they're certainly making us feel like there's something to hide.” – Les Mitchell [72:44]
  • “It feels cruel... so simple to just fix it... Let us see the report.” – Les Mitchell [78:15]

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Family’s Reflections and Plea for Change

[80:04 – end]

• The Mitchells stress that people struggling with addiction and mental health are still someone’s child, parent, or loved one—they “matter.”
• Carrie Ray: “The bottom line is, everybody needs to give their head a shake and realize that this is a problem that's out there… this isn't the first person that I... I don't know how to put it... but at the end of the day, I just want people to realize... that was our daughter and she matters.” [82:19]
• Reluctant hope that sharing Kayla’s story might yield suggestions for breaking “the loop”—and for better support for families in future cases.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “She was very artistic, she loved to draw... she certainly loved being the oldest.” – Les & Carrie Ray Mitchell [09:05]
• “You're the problem.” – Carrie Ray Mitchell on a mediator’s reaction when she sought help [13:38]
• “When you have a child with mental illness, I don't think that that limit should be in place... You're always going to need your family support.” – Les Mitchell [22:47]
• “In order to get into the facility, you have to be clean. And it's such a catch-22... the people who need the most help are the people who are not clean.” – Les Mitchell [33:57]
• “The next phone call I get is not going to be good news.” – Leslie Mitchell [39:40]
• “It feels cruel. At this point, it feels like they are just willingly inflicting this emotional trauma, and it's so simple to just fix it... Let us see the report. But I think...there was no investigation.” – Les Mitchell [78:15]
• “That was our daughter and she matters... She meant something to all them.” – Carrie Ray Mitchell [82:51]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:55] Kayla’s characterization as daughter, sister, mother
• [10:43] “Layla the twin” – early hints of dissociative identity signs
• [13:38] Family experiences systemic blame instead of support
• [22:47] Barriers to parent involvement post-legal adulthood
• [33:57] On catch-22 requirements for treatment
• [39:40] Les describes the anticipated outcome of Kayla’s crisis
• [54:08] Coroner report details—how Kayla was found, cause of death
• [64:06] Family questions legality/procedures following her discovery
• [72:44] Family feeling “stonewalled” by system
• [75:25] “We just want an answer. That’s it.”
• [78:15] Pain of stonewalling and lack of accountability
• [82:51] Recapitulation of Kayla’s value and plea for empathy

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Conclusion & Call to Action

• The hosts reiterate that Kayla's case—tragic in itself—is emblematic of broader failings: the cost of stigma, under-resourced mental health/addiction support, bureaucratic secrecy, and the secondary trauma inflicted on bereaved families shut out of the investigative process.
• Áine Cain: “I think something massive needs to shift within the culture…The shift must be towards transparency…police file will not bring her back, but I think it could be a step in the direction of healing for them.” [90:05]
• Listeners with legal, journalistic, or advocacy expertise are encouraged to reach out with recommendations for the Mitchell family.

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Summary

This episode is a raw, compassionate exploration of systemic and societal failures that contributed to Kayla's suffering and the ongoing distress of her family. It exposes the painful bureaucratic labyrinth surrounding accidental overdose cases, calls out the stigma that dehumanizes victims, and demands greater transparency and support for grieving families. Through the Mitchells’ voices, listeners witness not only the tragedy of Kayla’s life and death but also the resilient, ongoing love—and the urgent need for reform—that remains.

Transcript

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[Anya Cain]

I'm Anya and today we're going to talk about the death of a young woman in Canada and the aftermath her family is still dealing with over four years later.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Content Warning this episode contains discussion of mental illness, addiction, murder and suicide.

[Anya Cain]

On October 21, 2021, a woman named Kayla died in Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada. She was 33. She died in a crack house with fentanyl and cocaine in her system. But what happened to Kayla? What happened in her life that led her to that point? What happened as she died?

[Kevin Greenlee]

In this episode, we will hear from Kayla's father and stepmother, Les and Carrie Ray Mitchell. They would talk with us about their experience, their anguish, and what continues to frustrate them about what they feel is a lack of answers.

[Anya Cain]

In Kayla's case, this is an important conversation. It gets at the heart of issues we see so often on this show.

[Kevin Greenlee]

It touches upon the drug abuse and mental illness. Starting as a teenager, Kayla struggled with mental health issues. She remained in denial about those issues and instead medicated with illegal drugs.

[Anya Cain]

Systemic impediments. From early on, Kayla's loved ones felt the system impeded them. When they tried to get her help, they were pushed away, told no and.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Labeled the problem unanswered questions. Now that Kayla is gone, the Mitchells are still haunted by what they do not know. They told the Murder Sheet. They questioned how thorough the death investigation.

[Anya Cain]

Actually was, issues between the police and victims loved ones around transparency. What's more, the Mitchells say they have never gotten the police file on Kayla's death. Despite the fact there's seemingly no criminal case going forward here, Kayla's family still has unanswered questions and feel that no one is helping them get to the bottom of those. In this episode, we also heard from the chief coroner who worked on this case and received some responses from other agencies involved. This talk is raw. It's painful. It's two people remembering their daughter. Her struggles, her ups and downs, the loss of her. The Mitchells are incredibly brave, I think, to talk about this with such candor. But they are doing so because they are still fighting for Kayla.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Kayla was a daughter, a mother, a sister, a young woman with a bubbly laugh. A young woman who suffered a lot in her short life.

[Anya Cain]

It is time her story was told. Perhaps it can help those who suffer like her. Perhaps it could be a comfort to the families who've gone through what the Mitchells have gone through. And perhaps it could be a call to action around transparency when it comes to cases like hers. My name is Anya Cain. I'm a journalist.

[Kevin Greenlee]

And I'm Kevin Greenlee. I'm an attorney.

[Anya Cain]

And this is the Murder Sheet.

[Kevin Greenlee]

We're a true crime podcast focused on original reporting, interviews, and deep dives into murder cases.

[Anya Cain]

We're the Murder Sheet and this is the Fentanyl Files. What happened to Kayla?

[Les Mitchell]

It.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Hi there, guys. First of all, just thank you guys so much for joining me today on the Murder Sheet podcast. I want to thank you for taking the time, I guess, to start out.

[Anya Cain]

With can you tell me a little.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Bit about yourselves and just kind of introduce a little bit about what we're.

[Anya Cain]

Going to be speaking about today?

[Les Mitchell]

You want to go ahead?

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

No, I'll let you do that.

[Les Mitchell]

Okay. We have four kids. One we recently lost in 2021 to an overdose. Unexpected, but not quite unexpected. If that makes any sense. We, for, for us, we accepted that our daughter died of a fentanyl overdose. Not understanding so much about fentanyl at that time. We know it was very, very big just coming into the news and astronomical numbers of overdoses. So our knowledge on fentanyl isn't that wide other than this one circumstance. And we have discovered through some paperwork, through the coroner's paperwork that in our opinion it doesn't look like it was just a simple overdose. So we're trying to get to the bottom of the information. Three and a half years in.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

I just want to say I'm so sorry for your guys loss of your daughter in this situation. It's absolutely heartbreaking. Before we get into what happened to her, can you just tell me a bit about your daughter and what she.

[Anya Cain]

Was like as a person.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Kayla came into our lives full time, I guess realistically.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Leslie Mitchell]

When she was about 12, she, she came into our home directly before that. I can't say it was, it was definitely an up and down life, you.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Know, when she was born as myself and my ex and it was a struggle at that time. There's a lot of components, moving components within our lives. When we separated, it was basically my, my parents and my sister that really cared for more until we got together. And when we got married we were doing the blended family. We have my wife's two kids and then we had my daughter. And we tried to make the best of blending things but it was difficult. And looking back now, I wish I had changed some things.

[Les Mitchell]

I don't want to go back and do it over again. In hindsight.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

We didn't do a lot on weekends that in essence we didn't have Kayla. I want to make sure that when we had her, I, I guess I was overcompensating and trying to make up for the time prior. And then once she moved in, well, financial challenges, I mean four kids, we were young and back then having a home and realistically that was, that was their primary home.

[Leslie Mitchell]

So there's a lot of things that went on during that period of time to try and provide the best life. And one of the things we did do, I think was take them on trips and camping and different things. And Kaela didn't have necessarily a lot of things that she focused on. She was very artistic, she loved to.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Draw.

[Les Mitchell]

And she certainly loved being the oldest.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah. Of all the kids she had bubbly personality and a unique laugh. But as she grew older there were things that changed personality. And in all honesty, I, I didn't pick up on. You know, I worked a lot and my wife picked up on things and took getting smacked up the side of the head one day to realize what I was not seeing. And, you know, we tried different disciplinary measures. We tried helping her. We tried all kinds of things. Counseling. She did flourish when she got into the cadets. At first she seemed to. It gave her purpose, gave her direction. And I honestly remember her sitting out the back porch and she would be shining her boots for freaking hours. Like, literally.

[Les Mitchell]

She has so much pride in her uniform.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah. The way her uniform was set up, what she did, how she focused. When she went away to camps. We actually went up one time she was at camp, and you could see that this was something she really, really enjoyed.

[Les Mitchell]

She used to have this thing where she could lie. She could lie really well. And even if you had, say, a photo of what you were speaking of, she would still be able to lie. And she would always say, oh, it wasn't me. It was. It was. What was. What was it that she. She called her, I think, Layla. She's like, well, that was my twin, Layla. And we used joke around, but now when we look back, I wonder, maybe she wasn't. Do you know what I mean? Like, was that part of the multiple personality? Because when she was diagnosed, like, we. We had no understanding of what to do, what that meant, how to help her, or even how to help her understand that there were issues that she never accepted. I can look back and I could see that were those instances of maybe the other personality coming out and be just young and stupid and just unaware.

[Leslie Mitchell]

There's a lot of frustration too, because.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

We always had a lot of kids at our house.

[Les Mitchell]

We didn't want. We didn't. Not that we didn't trust their friends or their friends families, but we just always preferred to have them have their friends over. So we always had eyes on them. So we put in the pool so that the friends would come over and we put in the playhouse so that they would want to play at our place. We thought that was a good thing to do. It seemed to work with. With her and with the other kids. And we thought that we had a good understanding, but I don't think any of us had an understanding back then and even back. It was just so. There was such, I think, a shame. Stigma attached to it that I think at her age at 14, I can't say myself that I would have wanted to accept it either. And there was just so much shame from the older generations in the families that they Wouldn't even accept it. So I don't know if things could have been done differently.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

So that shame is around. The mental health aspect of this, I.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Think the one thing that stands out.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

The most to me.

[Leslie Mitchell]

There'S one moment in the whole process that to this date, I've never.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

I've never, ever, ever let it go.

[Leslie Mitchell]

There's a time we were reaching out.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

For help everywhere, and I was really frustrated. So I actually went to one of these, and I can't remember exactly what.

[Les Mitchell]

He was port appointed mediator through the.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Family court system, and basically I was trying to deal with getting her help. And the reference was, you don't need help. You're the problem.

[Les Mitchell]

Yeah, we were the problem.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

And this guy was sitting behind, you know, his big fancy desk in his fancy office, and I think it was above CIBC on 72nd and King George. And going into the office was extremely intimidating. And once I got in the office, it was basically this guy dishing on me. And I said, look, she's been diagnosed. We have all the information. You just want help. Yeah. He just shunned me away and said, you know, leave her alone. She's living her life. She doesn't need you.

[Les Mitchell]

She was 16 and she was involved, and.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

It. I'll never forget that moment because I was reaching out to get help.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I hope it's changed.

[Les Mitchell]

I think it's come a long way from where it was for sure.

[Leslie Mitchell]

You know, there's a lot of parents, I'm sure out there that need help with stuff like this.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

So I want to ask you, though, so just pausing for a minute. I mean, I'm so sorry that's such a callous response from this guy. But going back, can you tell me about how the mental health side of this started manifesting itself and sort of what that looked like, as, you know, it sounds like, you know, things were at a good place. Joining the cadets, maybe that's a future opportunity. But can you tell me where things start to kind of descend into some.

[Anya Cain]

Of this mental health stuff?

[Les Mitchell]

I think it started to get really bad when I was pregnant with her younger brother. She was 14 when he was born. She was doing wonderful, and then her behavior started to change, and we thought typical teen stuff. But prior to that, for the few years, I would notice things that nobody else would see. And even my own parents called me crazy and said, you're just. You're just. You're being crazy. But I would see the way she would behave if it was just us compared to the way she would behave. In front of other people. And then it just kind of escalated. And when the baby was born, we ended up having to put cameras in his bedroom just for safety because there were bruises that appeared for no reason. There were, there were a few issues with her being upstairs with him. So we had a lot of concerns.

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[Les Mitchell]

And it was around that time that she went to the hospital because she would either say she didn't know what was going on, or she would just flat out deny that there were things going on. And we just didn't know where else to. To go other than the hospital, because our families were no help in that regard. And then once. Once that happened, I feel like something changed in her and she felt like we.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

I don't know, it was like we.

[Les Mitchell]

Were against her and she took it so personally. I don't know. At the time, I felt that she would, you know, understand in time that we were just doing what we thought was best. The children's hospital psychiatric unit, we assume that they're the specialists and they know what they're doing, but I don't think she ever recovered from it. In the way of her trust for.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Us again, no, that was. That was kind of gone because from.

[Les Mitchell]

That point on, from 16 to when she passed at 33, it was more of a sporadic relationship. And there just never seemed to be that trust for us again.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

I think what. What was the hardest to deal with and understand was we were away on a vacation and I was out with a few friends, and she started power dialing my phone. And I don't think I'd heard from her for probably close to a year and a half at least.

[Les Mitchell]

She would reach out in times of distress or when she was in crisis after she had gotten married and was, I guess, out of the home. This was the last. Are we talking about the last few years?

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah. So she reached out at one point.

[Les Mitchell]

January 2020 was the first time we had heard from her, I think maybe since 2017 or 2018.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah, somewhere there.

[Les Mitchell]

And she reached out when you were golfing.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

So that call was hard because she asked during the call, I think there's something wrong with me. Do you know why I do these things? And, you know, I was distracted at the time and also surprised. So that conversation was almost a bit of a blur.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Because she just.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

She went around in circles. And each time she went around and repeated herself, she added something. And that's when I learned that her and her husband had. Had been apart for quite some time and some things that had transpired. And then on top of that, when I got back, at the time, we were staying at a hotel. When I got back to the hotel, she called again and at that time talked to myself and my wife. It was like everything from her past had all caught up to her. Now she she was at that time getting some help and she was.

[Les Mitchell]

That was when they were briefly hospitalized.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah, getting hospitalized and getting some treatment. But anytime I reached out to the treatment center, even though, you know, I talked to her and said, hey, I want talk to someone there, they would not give any information, details. Is she there? Not there. Are they treating her? There was nothing at that point where I could really get anything definitive from.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Her because she's a, because she's an adult. So like they can't give that. Okay, that makes, that makes sense. And it's, I imagine that's such a helpless feeling where you're, you're trying to be the support system but not getting anywhere because of these different things.

[Les Mitchell]

They're adults. I understand that. But at the same time, I think when you have a child with mental illness, I don't think that that limit should be in place. 16 year old adult. No. You're always going to need your family support throughout your life. Like there's, I mean if there's anything that we can do through this process about how they handle parent, I don't know, maybe, maybe if we can change that for somebody in the future, that, that, that's worth what we're doing because it has to change. They, I can't even imagine all the other parents that must be going through something similar.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Yeah, I mean if someone is not making decisions or if someone is basically kind of in that state and struggling, it does seem to make sense to allow people in their life, their support system to have more information and more empowerment to help deal with the crisis. But versus like, well, you're an adult, you're just doing, I mean there should be some kind of guardianship element to this, I feel.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Well, the other thing is they're treating her, but they don't, they don't know her history. She was extremely good at separation. She would keep this little group here and that group there and when those connected somehow, that's when she spiraled. I remember she had these two friends.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

And then they became friends and that was a problem. And you know, this went on for quite some time. It was like every day I came home I would listen to this same thing. And she couldn't handle third cog in that.

[Les Mitchell]

I think for her she was just scared that her past and childhood would not catch up. But if we were in regular contact with her spouse or her friends up in Whitehorse where she had moved to, I think she was scared that we would say something or hey, how is she doing? And I think she was Just always scared that people would find out that then we thought there was an issue.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Would you be comfortable telling me just a little bit about her diagnosis and sort of her trouble accepting that?

[Les Mitchell]

We took her to the hospital. They admitted her through emergency into the Adolescent Psychiatric unit, and then we were asked to leave. And then we didn't see her for, I think, three or four days and were allowed to come and pick her up. But there was no communication with us about what happened during those three or four days or. And she never told us about it. She would just. Why did you do that? Why did you leave me there? She started to do. She said her behaviors got worse to the point that she had gotten caught stealing. And because it was from a store of a friend of mine, I told her I was going to take her back the next morning to apologize. And so that evening, she went up into the bathroom, and then about an hour later came down with my empty prescription bottle. I had just had a hysterectomy, so she had come back with my antidepressants that they had put me on, and it was empty, and she had said that she had taken them. And I. I mean, it was a full model. So we immediately took her to the hospital and through the er, they put her in the Adolescent Psychiatric unit in that hospital as well. And then after, I think, three or four days there, they called us and told us that she actually hadn't taken anything, that they had pumped her stomach, I think, four or five, six different times, and nothing had ever come out. But again, they wouldn't disclose anything that was discussed, anything. They wouldn't tell us anything. So all we knew is that she said she took them, but she didn't actually take them. So our conclusion was she was terrified of the confrontation of. I don't know. That's the only thing that I could think of why she would have done that at that time.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Yeah. And so you guys don't even really know, like, what she may or may not have been diagnosed with because that. That just wasn't given to you because she was at that age where they weren't going to give that to you.

[Les Mitchell]

First time. We do. We have the hospital records of her diagnosis the first time when she went into Children's Hospital. Dissociative identity disorder, attachment disorder. And then I believe after giving birth, she was diagnosed with bipolar as well. If there was anything else diagnosed in between those times, we don't know about it. Like, if she was accepting of the diagnosis, we knew that she would medicate and live A very full, productive life. But because she couldn't accept it all those years, we were very, very concerned about her becoming a mother. We didn't really have an understanding of postpartum per se, But I have a feeling that that certainly compounded the issues that were already untreated.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Why do you think she did not was unaccepting of her diagnoses or needing help or. Where do you think that was coming from?

[Leslie Mitchell]

Her surroundings originally?

[Les Mitchell]

I think it was her counselors at school, biological mother's side, as well as your parents, her grandparents, family, the school, her counselor, all the people that stepped in to say, Kayla, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. Look at you. And I think initially it was just. There was. Her mother's mother had committed suicide when she was a baby. And there was mental illness, I believe, with her, one of her uncles as well. And in that family, it was a very, very hush hush, keep it quiet. There's nothing to see here. And so I think growing up with that, that was. I don't know if she was scared of how she would be treated or I, I just, I. I wish I could ask her. I just. I don't know.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Right. And. And that's super common, right. That that kind of like it's worse to address the problem than to, you know, like, like there's this fear of if you admit something's wrong that's somehow scarier than anything else. And unfortunately that does deter a lot of people from getting help. Can, can you tell me. Obviously there's a huge comorbidity between drug abuse and mental health issues. Can you tell me about how that sort of manifested itself in. In Kayla's life? The, the drug abuse started, I believe.

[Les Mitchell]

After her second child was born. Was it?

[Leslie Mitchell]

I think, yeah. So basically what I understood is at some point it became too much. She had done some weed or something and then it progressed from there. Where it progressed, how it progressed, we have no knowledge.

[Les Mitchell]

There was, I think at 2:20, 18 or 19, until 2021. Our understanding at that time was the postpartum would be unmedicated mental illness. She went to the drums because it just, it turned all the noise off for her. And I think that's how she got into it and got into it quickly because at that time she was then out of the house. And I can imagine that that must have been very traumatic and stressful as well, because she's now without the babies.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

And growing up she was. Well, all the kids were very much understanding because, you know, drugs were not something we tolerated.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I remember coming home one day, somebody gave me a ride and I, they had something in their car and I said, you had two choices. Drop me off so I can find another way home or throw that out. But I'm not riding in your car with this. I remember telling the kids the story.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

When I got home. And it's something I've always emphasized to all the kids and that is, you know, just because somebody else has something doesn't mean you're not guilty because you're in the car with them. So if you have knowledge of it, you know, you have a choice to make. Get out is probably the best one. But ultimately there may have been drug.

[Les Mitchell]

Use in her teens. We don't know.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

We, we have no idea because she.

[Les Mitchell]

Was out of the house at 16.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

So we, and, and when you mentioned her being out of the house after her second child, was, was she homeless or was she just living outside of the house?

[Les Mitchell]

She was in a shelter, I believe, for, for a time period.

[Leslie Mitchell]

And then she got help.

[Les Mitchell]

Yes. And then on and off hospitalized a few times. She would go in for a week or so and she was medicated and doing well and they would release her. And then. So it was a cycle in the end. I believe for the last year she was homeless. I don't believe she was in a shelter anymore at that point.

[Anya Cain]

Right.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

And I want to ask something. You know, in the United States there's a huge crisis in terms of not enough beds and there aren't really long term solutions in many cases. And also we have a mess of an insurance system down here in terms of health insurance. But you know, there's this kind of perception that, you know, people might benefit from longer term care and help and like being in a permanent place for a while to get treatment and get better in Canada. What is the situation with stuff like that? Are there any options around that for people to stay for a long time and get more treatment or is it really kind of that in and out yo yoing system?

[Les Mitchell]

So there has been a great demand and increase on mental health issues, facilities and stuff like that. So that's wonderful to see. She lived up in the Yukon and so they are, I don't want to say back in the. They're just further behind. It's a little different up there with definitely less resources. They're definitely working with a lot less up there. So I, I can't say what it would be like up there, but I know in like, like Vancouver type thing and stuff that they are, they are starting to work on it a lot more.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I think it's, you know, when you look at Canada, U.S. well, for Canada.

[Les Mitchell]

In order to get into the facility, you have to be clean. And it's such a catch 22 because. Well, how. Especially somebody with mental health issues, like, it just seems like such an oxymoron.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Yeah, no, that's bad. I mean, because it's like the people who need the most help are the people who are not clean.

[Les Mitchell]

Yes. And they can't get clean themselves to get the help. So it's just like this vicious circle that just keeps going around.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I think they're trying to change things. I know that there's been a lot of talk and different facilities that they're.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Trying to get going.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Where we live now, I can't say it's nearly as bad as it was and is in Vancouver.

[Les Mitchell]

There's definitely a crisis here for sure.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Yeah. But, you know, it seems to be blowing up all over the place, you know, and I think it's. Maybe some of it's mental illness, maybe some of it's just, you know, it's.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

The environment they're held within. But I think a lot of it is just, you know, people are trying to escape reality, whatever it is. I don't think anybody's exempt from it anymore. You know, you have one really traumatic event and.

[Leslie Mitchell]

You just end up in the wrong place. And I think that's what started hers, in essence was it was just a series of events that cast her where.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

She ended up having a system where people are able to just check in and out or check themselves out. I think we need to bring back forcible commitment. But the thing is, in the past, some of these psychiatric institutions were very abusive and poorly run. So we need to put the money into having a good place for people to be, but also not let them just leave. Because then that doesn't really help anything. That's my opinion.

[Les Mitchell]

There's definitely a lot more that could be done for sure. Yeah.

[Anya Cain]

More.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

More money needs to go into it because, I mean, that's the. I mean, it's. It's going to be expensive, but I feel like there's. There's such a demand for this.

[Les Mitchell]

And it could be done. It could be done. Absolutely.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I think the other thing is it's what they do and the programs and how they're managed and how they're set up in the first place. I'm just going to take a generality. It doesn't matter where you go nowadays. It feels like a good percentage of people are simply going through the motions.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

You know, if, if somebody has box A, they go from box A to box B and from box B they go box C. And it doesn't matter what is. It could be mental health, it could.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Be an injury, whatever it happens to be. Everybody just goes through the process. That creativity, that care. And I think that comes from leadership, that comes from the top all the way down.

[Les Mitchell]

There needs to be new leadership.

[Leslie Mitchell]

There needs to be definitive change. And you know.

[Les Mitchell]

I. Honestly, until it happens to the people who are in the positions to change it, I don't think it's going to change because they can't relate. It's so far away from where they are that they, they just can't relate to it. So I think until they experience it themselves, I mean, I hope for change, but I don't think it will happen.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I, you know, I've watched my wife spend countless hours, countless days, and I can't say I'm fully involved because.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

When.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I do, then I find myself in a spiral condition which makes it impossible for me to get up and go and do what I need to do. As far as work. There are spigots that click in and sometimes my way of dealing with stuff is I'll just get my car and just drive in circles because that's the only escape that I can find from dealing with this. She's taken it head on. I haven't. And I would have to say in the last week I had to make a, I guess a pretty big sacrificial change in my life even doing this.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

You know, it was. Sorry.

[Les Mitchell]

Sorry about that. Oh, you're fine.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

You could go to him and we'll.

[Anya Cain]

Pause this less needed a moment at this point. Losing a child is a pain that never leaves a parent. Even just talking about some of this stuff can be so difficult. A few minutes later, we all resume the conversation.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Could you tell me a bit about learning about what happened to Kaela? And then, and then we can kind of go into what's happened ever since in terms of trying to get those answers.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Basically, I think I'd. We had gotten up and I was going to work on my drive to work. The one thing I remember is when I first came out Calgary, I. I.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Stayed with a friend of mine and I remember us talking one night and he said, you know, how's your daughter doing? And I said, you know, it's not good. And I know the next phone call I get is not going to be good news. And, you know, it kind of left at that, we had no way of contacting her, finding her, because we had.

[Les Mitchell]

To wait for her to reach out.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah, she had to reach out. And she had gone through so many phone numbers. I didn't. You know, I remember sometimes I'd phone five or six phone numbers to see if one of them was her. And then I did kind of connectively get to know a constable up there who would go out and do wellness checks for us just, Just to tell us, oh, yeah, we've seen her around, we know where she is. And that was very helpful because we didn't have a distinct way. So we made a routine to call and get that checked on. But I went to work and it was 9 o'. Clock. I'd gotten there at 8 and kind of settled in and I finally got a moment to break and my boss had actually just flown into town. I remember getting the call, it was very surreal. And I basically. He came in and he said, you know, at that time there. There's some changes going to happen, work, which was going to be good for me. But that was delayed because I told him, hey, just. I could just see his. His face just went stuck. And I remember that.

[Les Mitchell]

What did Warren tell you.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Honestly? Just that I honestly don't recall the call.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

I. I guess I recall it, but I don't. I don't know how to explain that.

[Les Mitchell]

The, the first. Not suspicion, but the first thing that kind of made us wonder was that when we were trying to get in touch to find out what happened, we were told that Major Crimes was investigating and that's all they would tell us. And so for us, it's. I didn't understand why Major Crimes would be investigating for an overdose. It didn't make sense. But, you know, we just kind of let it go. And then we talked to the officer who was investigating the case. And it had actually gotten quite a relationship. Him and Les would talk quite frequently on the phone, just checking in. And at that point he was saying that there was no. There had been no investigation and there would be no charges because at that time the law hadn't been put into place for the dealers. So there was just. It was an overdose. There was nothing we could do. And we thought, okay, well, we have to accept that. And he said that at that time they couldn't give us any information because the case was still open. And I thought, but there's no case per se. And he told us that the coroner was holding the case open. And then we received a phone call from the coroner because we just had questions to ask as parents if she could answer them for us. And she had mentioned she was holding the case open for the rcmp. And so that didn't make sense to me. I thought, well, what's going on?

[Anya Cain]

The Mitchells provided us with a trove of documents and emails about what happened, about their correspondences with various institutions around this case. On March 21, 2022, Carrie Rae emailed UConn's victim services. Her reach out explained who she and Les were, included Kayla's date of birth and date of death, and ended saying, we are looking for any and all information regarding that and surrounding her death. We do know that it was from fentolinyl poison and we know very little else. We are her parents and we feel we have the right to her death information. Carrie Ray also noted that they knew that since Kayla was still legally married, the information was going to her spouse, who they did not have a relationship with.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Later that day, Victim Service Supervisor Michelle Rabot wrote back expressing condolences for the loss of Kayla. She went on to provide Carrie Ray with the phone number of Chief Coroner Heather Jones, saying that the public official would be willing to talk.

[Anya Cain]

They had a few more back and forth emails locking down the details dealing with some minor phone issues.

[Kevin Greenlee]

On March 23, 2022, after their conversation, Carrie Ray wrote an email to Chief Coroner Heather Jones.

[Anya Cain]

I wanted to take a moment to thank you. Thank you for speaking with me and thank you for caring. We haven't found that very often. You gave me more peace on our phone call than I've had in five months. It seems silly to think I used to work in conjunction with Victim Services at scenes and notifications, but in this case I completely forgot about them. As a resource of information, you know your rights in your professional lives, but forget them when it becomes personal, if that makes sense.

[Kevin Greenlee]

She went on to share some of the details about Kayla's struggles, her family's history around mental illness and her and her husband's issues getting help for Kayla.

[Anya Cain]

Over the years, we fought for custody and Kayla was in her home until she ran away at 16, which is referenced in the sent letters. Carrie Ray wrote, we weren't allowed to fight for her then, but we will stop at nothing to fight for her now and to make people listen. Hopefully the future will see us consulting or speaking to educate and bring awareness. Things need to change, policies need to change. Education surrounding mental health needs to change.

[Kevin Greenlee]

She also shared a tribute video for Kayla.

[Anya Cain]

Again, thank you so much for speaking with me. I don't think I can explain to you what that did for me. For us, we feel like we can begin to heal now rather than haunting unknowns impeding our peace.

[Kevin Greenlee]

On March 23, Carrie Rae followed up with Supervisor Rebeu.

[Anya Cain]

I just wanted to thank you for putting me in touch with Heather. We have more peace now than we've had in five months and that is because of your kindness and assistance. Our sincerest regards and our deepest gratitude.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Later that day, Supervisor Ribaut wrote back.

[Anya Cain]

I'm so happy to hear that conversation worked out. I so wish we were talking under different circumstances and I understand that more peace doesn't mean everything is better. However, I'm grateful that you were able to get some answers and that can help you as you grieve, take care and know you can reach out whenever you need.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Chief Coroner Jones also replied that day.

[Anya Cain]

Thank you very much for taking the time to send this message, Carrie. I very much appreciate learning more about Kayla. Thank you. Most important that she was much more than the circumstances that took her life. And yes, we all now need to be very much aware of the role or potential roles we can all play in the mental well being of others. I already see that there is much that can be learned from Kayla's experience. In reality, I remain optimistic that we are moving into a time when the stigma I wish I knew of a more powerful word of mental health and substance use challenges will no longer limit the real care that they require. These are medical issues that require compassionate and meaningful management. We will continue to talk as we bring closure to Kayla's file here and I hope that you will continue to find the strength to keep talking about Kayla and having her story heard. Kayla's family was also connected with then Constable now Corporal Chris bowden of the RCMP's major crime unit. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is Canada's national police Service. The Mitchells shared with me an email from him sent on September 28, 2022. Corporal Bowden was the lead investigator in Kayla's case.

[Kevin Greenlee]

He wrote thanks for the chat today as well as the package you sent a while back. As mentioned, I put up the picture of Kayla at my desk when I received it. Photo attached Like I said, she's a great reminder and motivator to me for why I do what I do and who I do it for. We will talk again soon. In the meantime, all the best and take care.

[Anya Cain]

Then another one came in on October 5, 2022.

[Kevin Greenlee]

In 2022 our crime reduction unit started working up an incredible file for the UConn where they seized what I would call a significant amount of fentanyl, including other drugs, firearms, et cetera. I believe that the team was motivated to go hard on fentanyl trafficking, in part because of the overdoses that had been happening in the UConn like Kayla's.

[Anya Cain]

He also said one of the members of the crime reduction team unit was just shot on duty and he asked the Mitchells to bear with him because he was going to be tied up with that for a while.

[Kevin Greenlee]

On October 14, 2022, Kayla's father replied. Thank you for your email. I apologize for the delayed response. Thank you for the information. We appreciate was is helpful. We can't tell you what your email meant to us and the peace we received seeing her photo in your office. We can't truly put it into words. November or December are perfect for us to catch up. I understand how busy and stretched thin you guys are, so whenever you have the time, we will be here. Our thoughts and prayers are with your officer, his family and coworkers. Have a safe, Wonderful Weekend.

[Anya Cain]

On March 20, 2023, Kayla's family reached out to Corporal Bowden. I just wanted to take a moment to check in. We hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season. We are hoping that things may be at a point now where you can share information with us regarding Kayla's death at your convenience. Also, if we could arrange a call, as per our last interaction on April 30 that year, they followed up thanking Corporal Bowden for his phone call and expressing their appreciation. They also had some questions.

[Kevin Greenlee]

We understand from you this is the coroner's case, but perhaps there are questions you can answer that she cannot. The details we want are not just the physical details of her death per se, which we think we are realistically aware of, but also things like was she alone? We don't ask because we want to know who that person might be, but rather to know that maybe she was not alone in her last moments. Was she there unknowingly for days, or was she discovered quite soon after her death? Is there anything you or maybe other officers who frequently encountered her can tell us about her last two or three years? We know she had many encounters with the rcmp. What happened? We would just like to understand her last few years before her death. Perhaps visiting White Horse might help us. We understand he may not have or may not be able to give the answers. Then no one may have the answers. But as parents, as her parents, we have to ask. Although we understand charges were not come in Kayla's case. We are grateful that it has happened for another family and hopefully for many more families to come. We recognize the work that was put into that and celebrate the victory that has been accomplished and attained. We understand, as we have said before, that our daughter was a handful for those who encountered her over the last few years of her life, but we again thank you for seeing her as more than those years, for seeing her as our daughter. We are beholden for your kindness and compassion.

[Anya Cain]

On June 5, 2023, Corporal Bowden reached.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Out I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you since we last spoke. Thank you for your email with kind words and appreciation. Like we talked about last time we spoke, things haven't been easy up here for a while, so your support is greatly appreciated. Is there a time this week I could call you and we can talk? I will try to answer your questions as best I can with the information I gleaned during my involvement. Hopefully it can help in some way. Let me know we're planning for it.

[Anya Cain]

The next email I saw was from March 1, 2024. Kayla's family reached out to Corporal Bowden again. By this time, the Mitchells felt their relationship with the RCMP had frayed and that they were no longer getting much response at all.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Dear Constable Bowdoin, we apologize for the delay in communication since we last spoke. Please understand that our discussions are not easy and take a toll each time. Again, we thank you and we appreciate your valuable time. When we last spoke, you mentioned speaking to the coroner as it was her case. However, my wife did previously speak to her and received only the information that 1 Kayla died of an overdose, 2 she was not pregnant and 3 there were no other injuries. However, she also reported that she is keeping the case open for you, the rcmp, and that the case belongs to the police, not the coroner. So I guess what we're trying to understand is why it feels like we're dealing with word games. We are 27 plus months past her death. You've already made clear and we have accepted that there will be no charges in her case, only those going forward. Which means there is no evidence or information that requires protection for a trial or for any reason. So please tell us why it's so damn hard to find out the time of death for our child, or whether her date of death is really 21st October, or if that was just the date she was found, whether she was alone in her final moments or not. Why? What is the problem? Although we are trying, we just don't understand we will at some point be arriving in Whitehorse to gather what information we can ourselves and to attempt some sort of closure to our search for information and answers. We hope that you may have some time at that point to see us. If not, we understand.

[Anya Cain]

On May 3, 2024, the Mitchells reached out to Tracy McPhee, a minister and the Attorney General and Minister of justice and Minister of and Social Services in the Yukon Territory. Afterwards, they heard from Victim Service and the Yukon Territory's Coroner's office once again.

[Les Mitchell]

And then so it took us about two years, but the coroner offered to mail us her report.

[Kevin Greenlee]

On May 9, 2024, Heather Jones, Chief Coroner for the Yukon Territory, wrote a letter to Kayla's father in response to.

[Anya Cain]

The greatly appreciated telephone conversation this afternoon I'm enclosing the Chief Coroner's final investigation report for the death of your daughter. You will also see a copy of the final toxicology report. Further, as discussed, I am enclosing the silver ring with a blue gemstone that Kayla had been wearing at the time of my investigation. Please do not hesitate to be in touch should you find that you have any further questions or concerns. Know too that support is available through UConn Department of Justice's Victim Services should you feel that would help as you continue to navigate this extraordinary loss.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Take real good care, Chief Coroner Jones report was dated May 27, 2022. This is what it said.

[Anya Cain]

We'll be redacting Kayla's last name as well as the address that she was discovered at. Kayla was a 33 year old resident of Whitehorse, Yukon. She was the mother of two young children and had once worked as a dental assistant. Records indicate that in recent years she had been struggling with mental health, diagnoses and addiction and had been unable to maintain her employment. For approximately a year prior to her death she had been living away from her family, relying on social housing. On October 21, 2021, Whiteheart's RCMP were called at 1416 hours to attend to a death at this address in the city. The body of a young woman was lying in a child's plastic wagon outside of this address. A jacket had been placed over her body. UCONN Emergency Medical Services EMS had been notified by one of the individuals residing at the address. RCMP's M Division Major Crimes Unit MCU were notified and became the lead investigators until they were satisfied that the death was not the result of any criminal activity. Yukon Coroner's Service YCS learned that the individual who had contacted EMS lived in the basement of the home it was reported that while taking a nap in the late morning hours he was awakened by a city bylaw officer attending his home regarding a parking matter. He had exited the home to speak with the officer and upon returning he saw an unknown female on the floor near his deep freezer. He found that the woman was unresponsive. He indicated that he administered a number of doses of naloxone opioid antagonist medication and began cpr. He continued this for a significant amount of time and then chose to carry the woman outside and lay her in the child's plastic wagon intending to transport her to a vehicle to travel to Whitehorse General Hospital. A second resident of the home arrived and a call to EMS was made at 1410 hours. EMS arrived on the scene at 1418 hours and after assessment death was declared. At 1424 hours. The body remained on the scene as RCMP's MCU and Forensic Identification Services FIS carried out their investigation. MCU investigator was authorized under an s291 of the Coroner's act to examine the body in the context of the scene. At 18:24 hours the body was transported from the scene to the YCS facility. Shortly thereafter at 1844 hours, RCMP, MCU and General members attended the facility. Visual identification of the body confirmed it to be that of Kayla. Medical records indicated that Kayla had been suffering from significant and long term mental health issues. She had been diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder, cluster B personality disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, stimulant cocaine and crack use disorder and polysubstance abuse. It could not be determined how Kayla came to be at the address in Whitehorse. The residence was known to RCMP as a crack house and significant drug paraphernalia was found there. At the time Kayla was found unresponsive. The investigation remained under the coroner's act as per investigative findings by rcmp, MCU expedited toxicological analysis indicated that Kayla had concentrations of cocaine and fentanyl both in potentially lethal quantities in her body. Fentanyl is an opioid that exerts depressant effects on the central nervous system. These effects are sufficient to cause life threatening respiratory suppression and failure. Cocaine is a stimulant that may precipitate a sudden fatal cardiac dysrhythmia or ischemic event.

[Kevin Greenlee]

She classified the death as accidental due to mixed drug toxicity through fentanyl and cocaine and made no further recommendations and did not require an inquest. The documents sent to the Mitchells also included the toxicology report. This was done by NMS labs of Pennsylvania in the United States.

[Anya Cain]

NMS labs found that Kayla tested positive for four anpping Caffeine, cotinine and benzoyliganine Cocaine nine hydroxy Risperidone Risperidone and dextro levo, methorphan, fentanyl and norfentanil so what does all that mean?

[Kevin Greenlee]

4Anpp is a precursor chemical used in the production of fentanyl or fentanyl related compounds and is also a fentanyl metabolite and may be a metabolite of other fentanyl related compounds.

[Anya Cain]

Paliperidone is the active ingredient in Inviga extended release tablets.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Benzoyle Lecadine is an inactive metabolite and chemical breakdown product of cocaine. Cocaine is a DEA Schedule 2 controlled central nervous stimulant. Drug effects following cocaine use can include euphoria, excitement, restlessness, risk taking, sleep disturbance and aggression. A period of mental and physical fatigue and somnolence follow the use of cocaine after the excitant stimulant effects wear off.

[Anya Cain]

Caffeine is a xanthine derived central nervous system stimulant. It also produces diuresis and cardiac and respiratory stimulation. It can be readily found in such items as coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate. As reference, A typical cup of coffee or tea contains between 40-100mg of caffeine.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine and may be encountered in the fluids and tissues of an individual as a result of tobacco exposure.

[Anya Cain]

Dextromethorphan is the de isomer of a synthetic codeine analog that has antitussive activity but is without a significant analgesic effect. The drug is frequently found as a constituent of cough and cold medications for adults and children that are available over the counter. Overdose with DM is rare. However, toxicity, which may include death, is usually manifested when doses exceed 100 times the normal adult dose. The observed symptoms include central nervous system depression, hallucinations, dizziness and ataxia. Fatalities have been reported at DM concentrations as low as 3,300 nanograms per milliliter in blood.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Fentanyl is a DEA Schedule 2 synthetic morphine substitute anesthetic analgesic. It is reported the patients lost consciousness at mean plasma levels of fentanyl of 34 NGML when infused with 75 MSGKG over a 15 minute period. Peak plasma levels average 50 in GML.

[Anya Cain]

In reference comments, the lab went on to say signs associated with fentanyl toxicity include severe respiratory distress, seizures, hypotension, coma and death in fatalities from Fentanyl blood concentrations are variable and have been reported as low as 3 nanograms per milliliter. They also went on to say that the fentanyl level is within a range where therapeutic and lethal concentrations overlap.

[Les Mitchell]

And that's when, as soon as I read that paragraph, I thought it stuck out to me. And I, I sent it to a friend of Les's who has been friends with for over 50 years, he's retired RCMP. And I thought, okay, am I crazy? I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just a grieving parent seeing something that wasn't there. And so tell me about that paragraph.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Just so people can know, like what, what did you read that kind of set off those things? And then what did your retired friend say?

[Les Mitchell]

It was explained that there was the resident of a home had been out in his yard talking to bylaw for quite an extended period of time. And when he finished the conversation, he turned around and went inside.

[Kevin Greenlee]

In Canada, bylaw enforcement officers go around enforcing regional statutes and regulations for both municipal and provincial governments.

[Les Mitchell]

At that time, he says he found our daughter dead inside his house. He didn't try to catch the bylaw officer. He didn't call 911. He didn't. He stated that he gave her several doses of Narcan and that he wanted to take her to the hospital. So he put her in a child's wagon, I'm assuming like one of those red flyer type or little types wagons, and pulled her out of the house and was either up the driveway or coming out of the driveway when his roommate came home, saw what he was doing. His roommate was the one that called 911. And so we learned that the coroner was the one that makes the decision. And in her eyes, I guess it all seemed normal. She chose not to do an autopsy. She let us know that. And so we had asked her because when we received our daughter's belongings, they were, all of the clothing were maternity. And so for a while we didn't know if we lost a daughter and a grandchildren or. And I, I, it was killing me. I couldn't keep wondering. So that, that was why we initially reached out to the Corona and she said that in her professional opinion that she wasn't pregnant and that she thinks she would have known. And I had asked her about autopsies because my understanding was that anyone that dies outside of a hospital, there's an autopsy required. And she stated that that is normally the case. However, if they can tell by looking, like visually or just surveilling, if they can tell what the cause of death was, that they don't have to do the autopsy. And she said she knew it was an overdose because that's what the man had told her.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

I think there's a drug test, too, down there.

[Les Mitchell]

I know I did ask a friend of mine who works in a hospital, does Narcan. Like, will it show up on the top psychology? Because I thought, well, that would be a simple way to tell, but it doesn't last in the system long enough. So I just. We're not. We're not criminal experts or law experts, but my understanding was you can't touch a dead body or move a dead body. There's. It's against the law. There's fines, implicate, like, there's something there. So I. I began to want to know how A plus B equals C for the coroner and how she didn't think that there was anything suspicious. I just wanted to know why. And maybe she has a very valid reason. Maybe. So we wanted to see the police report because I thought that that would show us what we need to know. Everybody seems to have taken it like we were in a fight with the RCMP or mad at the rcmp. And it's not the police that we necessarily have the issue with, it's the coroner. But we need the police report to. You know what I mean? To. To show, like, hey, wait a minute. We know the police can't do an investigation if the coroner states there's nothing to investigate. We understand that. I just want to know professionally how those circumstances weren't in her mind. Something to be investigated, something to. So we have a lot of questions.

[Anya Cain]

On June 10, 2024, Minister McPhee responded further. Kayla's parents clarified that they had not been in touch with the RCMP since their last email, but that they had heard from the UConn Coroner's Office. This is what the Mitchell said. The information received by both our phone conversation with Coroner Heather Jones, as well as the information sent by mail, however, has left us with fewer answers and more questions. We have concerns about the thoroughness of the investigation and would like a copy of the investigation report along with an opportunity to meet or connect with the investigator, whether by zoom or in person. We can arrange to arrive in Whitehorse in the future, if that is what is required.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Around that time, Victim Service followed up on July 25, 2024. This time it was through victim support worker Amber Drift.

[Anya Cain]

She wrote, I'm sending this message to follow up on our conversations and provide some further detail on how our office can support you. I understand from our conversations that your primary focus at this point is accessing physical records, specifically police reports, which may fill some gaps in the information you currently have. I reached out to RCMP as we discussed and spoke with the officer in charge of the White Horse Major Crimes Unit, Sergeant Marin Fry. While Sergeant Fry was very receptive to helping answer as many questions as possible, he confirmed that the RCMP is not permitted to directly disclose any physical documents relating to their investigations. She said the Mitchells could go through the a tip or access to information or privacy process to request the RCMP file. But she did note that this could take months to process and might be costly and there would be no guarantee of success. Victim support worker Drift asked the Mitchells to consider arranging a meeting with RCMP and the coroner. She said that they could all attend and prepare a list of specific questions at the time. She also expressed her strong condolences.

[Les Mitchell]

But once we started asking them, we've been stonewalled.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Yeah, we had victim Services reach out. We asked her to try and obtain.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

The police report, understandably be reenacted or whatever.

[Les Mitchell]

Yeah, we'll be redacted. That's fine.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Yeah, that's fine. But no, that wasn't available to us.

[Les Mitchell]

She had offered, because that was part of her job as a victim services advocate to help families their paperwork or whatever it is that they're trying to do. And so she offered to try and go through. I think it's a tip which is the Freedom of Information Act.

[Kevin Greenlee]

On December 12, 2024, Victim Support Worker Drift wrote less, letting him know a tip gave them a response. She forwarded that email sent on November 21, 2024 by Melissa Simpson along.

[Anya Cain]

Dear Amber Drift, this is in response to your request under the Privacy act which was received by this office on November 1, 2024. We are seeking all records relating to the October 21, 2021 death of Kayla, including but not limited to the following Police reports, occurrence reports, supplementary occurrence reports, summaries, etc. Officers notes, photographs, toxicology reports, written and or audio statements, dispatch records, audio recordings, emails to and from M Division RCMP members, any and all other documentation relating to this investigation. Location, RCMP, M Division, UConn, White Horse Detachment. In a telephone conversation with Ms. Melissa Simpson, you advised you are unable to provide the required documentation. Be advised that we are concluding our file at this time and no further action will be taken.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Ms. Drift included the following note without response.

[Anya Cain]

Hi Les, I have included an email from AATIP below. I also had a phone meeting with a staff member from the AATIP branch in Ottawa and wanted to provide you with the details of that conversation. During this meeting, it was explained to me that there are only two scenarios in which the information we were requesting could be released. A when there is a court order. B where the information is required in order to settle in the state. Because neither of these criteria are present in this case, the AATIP office advised that their file will be concluded. I know that this response will be disappointing, and I'm truly sorry that I don't have better news. I want you to know that I discussed the situation with the ATIP employee and asked about exceptions or alternate ways to access this information. Unfortunately, the only avenue they were able to suggest was to obtain information directly from the rcmp. You've been clear that you aren't interested in meeting with the rcmp, and I respect your decision. At the same time, it's important to me to do everything I can to help you to get the answers you deserve. I have spoken to some colleagues about their experiences meeting with the RCMP in this capacity. This may or may not be helpful to know, but this is what I have been told. Major Crimes has been accommodating and responsive to meeting requests. They're willing to meet in person or virtually and will meet with people multiple times if requested. They can bring written reports with them, and while you may not be able to view them directly, they can read from those reports and you or I can take notes verbatim. If we want, we can also ask specific questions and prepare a list in advance. Other families have found these meetings were helpful in answering their questions. One last thing to add. If you don't want to meet with RCMP directly but you are interested in knowing what information they can provide, it may be possible for me to meet with Major Crimes on your behalf. I could collect information and ask questions for you, bring that response back, and then you could decide whether you want to speak with them again. I'm so sorry the AATIP request wasn't successful. The formal response I received from AATIP is below and it contains information on filing a complaint concerning the processing of our request. If that's something you'd like me to look into. On an unrelated note, I have taken a new position within our office, so you may notice that my email signature will change. The Mitchells told me that they felt victim service disappeared after this. They also tried the media. They sent us a letter they sent to Global News Chief Investigative Correspondent Carolyn Jarvis. They said she did not respond. The Mitchells told us that no one has ever covered Kayla's case before the murder sheet. They tried politicians. They sent me a letter. They wrote to the Honorable Mr. Poiliev on February 18, 2025. This is Pierre Poilievre, who has served as the leader of Canada's Conservative party since 2022. They asked him and his office for their help in getting the case file. Here's part of what they wrote. Quote, most recently, Victim Services White Horse applied for the information through a tip on our behalf as our advocate. Initially, we were advised that we had to have consent from our daughter's estate or power of attorney and provide a copy of her will. The Mitchells noted that Kayla was legally separated when she died and that she had no estate, no will. The Mitchells continued, once we provided that information back to a tip, their response became that we now need a court order to obtain the information. In that letter, they said that they have been in touch with or tried to contact the following White Horse rcmp, the White Horse Coroner's Office, the White Horse Victim Service. A tip. White Horse. Minister of Justice, Attorney General Tracy Ann McPhee, Solicitor General of British Columbia, Mike Farnsworth, Minister of safety Dominic LeBlanc of Ottawa. They wrote, what is going on? What are they hiding? Why are we not allowed the information surrounding her last afternoon? We don't understand. We were advised in early 2022 there would be no charges in our daughter's case, only those cases going forward. We had come to accept that. We did. So if there's no case, no crime, no defendant, no evidence to protect, and no trial, why is the information being so protected? Why? We just don't understand. Or maybe we do.

[Les Mitchell]

And we've never heard from a Victim Services advocate again. We stopped hearing from the constable well over a year ago, so we can't get in touch with anybody. Nobody will talk to us anymore. So if there is nothing to hide, they're certainly making us feel like there's something to hide. And my personal opinion is that it was just. It was a call that someone made of. It's. It's just another overdose. Let's go on to the next. And I understand that given the amount of overdoses that were happening at that time in that influx of fentanyl, being so new into. I understand how busy and I understand that, but I still think there has to be accountability. You can't just make a judgment call. I understand she was a pain in the ass. And break. She's gone. There's less paperwork for you. But that can't be the way it happened. You still have to follow procedure.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

And frankly, they shouldn't be treating you like this. You're a family that's grieving the loss of somebody. Compounding that with lack of information is not okay, in my opinion.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I think society has become numb. And I say that because, you know, it comes back to my comment earlier. People are going through the motions. I don't know if it's because everybody is overwhelmed and I'm not.

[Les Mitchell]

That's okay. But when you are a paid professional and paid not, you know, you can't. I'm sorry, you can't do. If I. If I up and didn't do my job, there would be consequences. Right. But I. I've looked into how we find out or how we talk to the coroner, how we're able. Like, are we allowed to ask the questions? But someone has brought up like a coroner's inquest and stuff like that. But I don't think that applies because the questions are for the coroner. So we don't really know now where. Where to go with it and what to do.

[Leslie Mitchell]

And we've tried. Well, I can't say we. My wife has reached out, wrote letters, sent letters. I. I tend to make the phone calls. So if there's something where she thinks a call needs to be made, I'll phone. But we're stonewalled on both sides. She got one.

[Les Mitchell]

Nobody wants to go against the rcmp. And I think because the RCMP is involved and they assume that that's who. You know what I mean? I think. I mean, that's the only thing I can think of.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

We just want an answer. That's it. We just want. We want someone to say, okay, we. We screwed up, or we didn't, or you're missing this component. You didn't know about this that led up to it. It's. I think any parent should at least have the right to know the answers, especially after seeing what we saw on the coroner's report. That's it.

[Les Mitchell]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

About this mysterious situation where this guy is moving her and why is there no follow up there? You know, he happens to have Narcan, but he's not calling 911. So, I mean, your questions are reasonable. It's not like you're just saying we need someone to blame here. You're saying we just want to know exactly what happened.

[Les Mitchell]

Follow up. Did you investigate? Okay, great. That's like, let us just, you know, how did you get to see. That's all we want to know.

[Leslie Mitchell]

That's where all the questions are coming from. It opened up so many questions to what is going on? This. This doesn't make any sense now.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Yeah, and what doesn't make sense to me is that on the one hand, there's no investigation. It's been ruled the way it's been ruled or whatnot. So you would think, okay, records should be free to the family and kind of out there, and if there is something going on, then they should also, like, let you know. I mean, it just doesn't even make any sense, and it's so frustrating. And I'm hoping that if we have any listeners who are Canadian or whatnot who may have some suggestions for you all about how to thread this needle. I mean, please reach out to murdersheetmail.com.

[Anya Cain]

Because I want to pass that on.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

To you guys if we can. I know you guys have gone to the press. You've tried to go to the press. You tried to go to lawyers. Like, when you let me know what all that you'd done, I was sort of, like, struck by, like, you did everything right. I don't. I don't know why you've had such a hard time.

[Les Mitchell]

And that's what's. That. That's what's confusing to us. It just doesn't make sense.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I think the biggest one is when Victim Services reached out to us to offer the service. To offer the service that we didn't even. We didn't. We never made a phone call asking for them to contact us. They actually reached out to us on their own, and I told them the same thing. And then during the process, we got. That's how we ended up getting the coroner's report and talking to the coroner. But that just opened up more questions.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Yeah, I can under. I mean, if there's no autopsy done, and there sort of seems to be this sort of level of superficiality about the findings that would only add to your concern at that point.

[Les Mitchell]

It feels cruel. At this point, it feels like they are just willingly inflicting this emotional trauma, and it's so simple to just fix it. Like it's. It. Just talk to us. Just answer the questions. That's it. Let us see the report. But I think the kid. The problem is there is no report because there was no investigation.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

And they don't want to admit that something's not right. And.

[Les Mitchell]

And maybe we're wrong. I would love for them to prove us wrong.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

I mean, but if they. If you're right and if they mess this up because they said, well, she's an addict, so we can tell what happened. Then at the very least, you. You know that there was a mistake made, and everyone can kind of go from there.

[Les Mitchell]

But again, when you are in a position of such. Of. Of being a coroner or even of a police officer, you don't get to have those judgments. When you go to. You just don't.

[Leslie Mitchell]

And we don't know when she started. We don't know what she did. We don't know how many times she did it. We don't know if that was the first time. We don't know if it's something that went on for months or weeks or years. We have no knowledge of any of it. So if they assumed, shame on them.

[Les Mitchell]

We.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

We don't know.

[Leslie Mitchell]

And I think that's the hardest part. And honestly, this is probably the most. I've spoken about this from day one.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Well, I just want to say I'm grateful and honored that you speak about it with us. I want to ask you both, is there anything I didn't ask about or any other things you want to address about this whole situation?

[Leslie Mitchell]

I think openly, the only thing I can say is there are people wandering.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

The streets.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Whether it be us or Canada or anywhere. Those people are someone's child. They're someone's mother. They're someone's father. There's someone's uncle or somebody. Somewhere. Someplace there is a connection to family.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Somewhere.

[Leslie Mitchell]

You know, this isn't the first person.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

That I. I don't know. I don't know how to put it. The. The bottom line is everybody needs to give their head a shake and realize that, you know, this is a. This is a problem that's out there. And, you know, something that I've seen and heard is, oh, my God, this bum's walking through our neighborhood. You know, I've dealt with people in different scenarios, and it's funny, you know, I've seen them treat. You know, I'll give you an example. I went into a coffee shop, and I watched this guy just tear into this girl that was behind the counter. Nobody said anything. And I just turned around, I said, would you tolerate somebody talking to your daughter or son that way? And then everybody else kicked in, and the guy apologized. And, you know, but it's like, I.

[Les Mitchell]

Don'T publicly embarrass people these days.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I don't know if it.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

If it's Covid or if it's society, but everybody needs to just wake up and realize nobody is doing this stuff on purpose. This is a reality. They called it an addiction or they called, you know, it's mental health. I don't think there's a person walks this planet anymore. It doesn't have some sort of mental health issue.

[Les Mitchell]

Honestly, I think it's in every family.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

I think it's everywhere. You know, we might not. We might not see it, we might not hear it, and we might not talk about it, but I don't think there's a person that probably. Let's just take listens to your program that doesn't have something in the back of their mind going, why did I think that? Why did I see that? Why did I hear that? Why? I.

[Leslie Mitchell]

I'm sorry, but at the end.

[Carrie Ray Mitchell]

Of the day, I just want people to realize.

[Leslie Mitchell]

Yeah, that that was our daughter and she matters. She. She's. And those two kids, you know, and the rest of her family. She meant something to all them. I don't know if anybody can give us a hand or even just tell.

[Les Mitchell]

Us what else we can do because we just don't know where else to go at this point because we've tried everything. Yes.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Well, I hope that someone, if anyone has any suggestions, please. Murdersheetmail.com I will connect you guys. I would really like to be able to give you guys some. Something to work with because it's outrageous and I just want to say again, I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Les Mitchell]

We really appreciate you.

[Anya Cain]

I'm going to be super blunt with you here. In cases like Kayla's, families are left devastated. They're left reeling, they're left angry. In some cases, those families seek an outlet for that anger, namely someone to blame. That blame can go toward a theoretical perpetrator. Or in cases where charges do not get filed quickly or at all, or where the case does not result in the desired outcome, that frustration or even anger can splash out onto police investigators, coroner's offices, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, or other representatives of the system. That impulse is always understandable and perhaps even a natural part of grieving. Sometimes it is also completely warranted. In other words, officials mess up or there is indeed a specific perpetrator or party deserving of full or partial blame, or someone who truly just gets away with a crime. Other times, the targets do not deserve the criticism. And then there's all sorts of shades of gray in between. That is the nature of this kind of loss. For those who experience it, it is dizzying, sickening, sudden. Trying to make sense of a senseless tragedy can make us want to figure out what happened and who is responsible. Even in cases where the only answers are unsatisfying. That what happened was actually an accident or a suicide or an overdose. Not a murder, not anything suspicious. And the only one responsible for what happened is the deceased loved one. I have seen this play out in cases of suicide and overdose again and again and again and again. We are not a true crime show that plays into this dynamic in order to exploit grieving families and get content. We do not like to make people think a conspiracy is afoot because frankly, that's the true crime industrial complex. That's not who we are. But here's the thing that has compelled me about Kayla's case since I started covering it. Maybe the Mitchells are totally wrong. Maybe the police files have nothing new, nothing that will tell them exactly what happened to Kayla. Nothing of real value. Maybe the witness had nothing to do with what happened to Kayla. Maybe he just made a few confusing choices on the fly because he was rattled. Or maybe there's more information in the police file that clears everything up. Maybe there's nothing more to this than an overdose. Or maybe there are questions that just can't be answered. Maybe all the investigating in the world would not have changed the outcome. Maybe there's just not enough to do anything about it. I think all of that could very much be true. At the end of the day, all of that can be true. And yet I still feel that this situation reveals something is wrong. Because I am here to tell you, I actually fell into the same loop as the Mitchells and that tells me everything. See, I did some reach outs with those involved and I ended up in, frankly, the same position. The Coroner's office in UConn was pretty open and responsive and answered my questions. The RCMP didn't budge much because they claimed it was a coroner case. That is the sort of conundrum that can drive families to become more suspicious than they might be already. It's just the nature of the situation. So, as I mentioned, Chief Coroner Jones was open and answered my questions. She noted where the police would be better suited to answer my questions, though she clarified to me why there was no autopsy on the case, replying, quote, as per COVID protocol for YCS in 2021, we relied on expedited toxicology analysis. In this case, cause of death was not in question. All of this was discussed with the family both at the time of the investigation and when the parent made contact. A few years following our closure, she clarified the comment about determining whether Kayla was pregnant, saying, we have no way of determining pregnancy without a specific request. To do so so we would not have made that confirmation. She clarified how the judgment about the cause of death was determined, saying the cause of death was determined by toxicological examination and thorough investigation of circumstances with the assistance of rcmp. RCMP ruled out any foul play. However, I do suggest you speak to them about their investigation. When I asked about the Mitchell's contention that the witness who discovered the decedent said that he did not call 911 or try to chase down the bylaw officer he had just been speaking to after finding Kayla dead, but instead put her body in a little wagon and pulled that into his driveway, at which point his roommate saw what was happening, dialed 911. Chief Coroner Jones said this is not consistent with the information coming from the RCMP investigation. As reported, the witness began life saving measures immediately and moved the decedent from the basement for better access by ems. When I asked her about sending the decedent's family a report two years after the decedent's death, she replied the final report was completed and made available to the primary next of kin seven months following the death as the investigation came to a close. The parent is not the primary next of kin. The report was requested by the parent More than two years after our closing. I asked her about the Mitchells still not receiving the full case file from the rcmp. She replied, that would be a question for rcmp. I was of the understanding that the family you have had contact with did reach out and had extensive conversations with the RSCMP investigators. This would have included informing them of the formal process for obtaining their file information. You may want to confirm that this was done. When I noted that the Mitchells are confused why the witness who discovered the body was not investigated more intensively or charged with a crime removing the body, she said, again a question for rcmp. Their investigation was thorough so they will have an answer if this is something they would normally provide after investigation. The case didn't fall under the criminal code. I noted that I imagined some questions may be for the RCMP more than her and she said, I appreciate your interest in doing a full investigation prior to releasing hearsay information publicly. She also concluded saying, again, I appreciate you reaching out for clarification on these points and again too, I do hope you go through the proper channels to be able to obtain factual information from RCMP and if their investigation is of interest to you, I hope that what I have been able to provide does help clarify some of the facts we have identified. I also reached out to Corporal Bowden he was very cordial and responded and I so appreciated that. But he noted that the rules meant that I would need to go through RCMP's communications process. I tried to do so. A communications representative wrote me saying, quote, this is a UConn Coroner Service led investigation and we are not able to provide you with any information. Your questions are best directed to that office. We recognize families may share information as they navigate loss. Police must comply with privacy legislation. Any requests for police records need to go through access to information and privacy process.

[Podcast Host/Interviewer]

Regards.

[Anya Cain]

One would hope that a system like AATIP would provide relief to families in this situation, that they would almost break this loop, but it did not in this case. I think a system that creates this kind of back and forth, this kind of paradox where a decedent's family is just stuck not getting information even though there's not going to be a trial, I think that's a problem. I think it ends up inflicting more harm than good. I think it helps trap families in this cycle. I think it has hurt the Mitchells and caused them pain. Privacy, safety and proper procedures are all extremely important. Certainly in cases where a prosecution is pending or even possible, when a criminal prosecution is on the line, that has to come before everything else. Frankly, that is sacrosanct. But in cases when that's not going to happen, for whatever reason, that strikes me as quite different. I'm just asking if there could be a way to protect privacy and encourage safety and preserve proper procedures while still ushering in more transparency in cases like this one, especially when the case is effectively over. As a journalist who's covered this case, I'm not really criticizing any one figure or even any one institution. Frankly. I felt like in a lot of the correspondences I reviewed, I saw individuals trying to help the Mitchells. They were just not able to do the one thing the Mitchells really wanted, which was give them the police file. And therein lies the problem. I think something massive needs to shift within the culture. I think the shift must be towards transparency. I think in cases where that is not possible, the reason why should be explained in concrete and definitive terms. The earlier, the better to set expectations. And I think families should be kept updated. Even for parents of adult children, that deceased adult is still someone's baby. Kayla is still the Mitchell's baby. She's their child, their daughter. Having the police file will not bring her back, but I think it could be a step in the direction of healing for them. I want to express my utmost sympathies to them and thank them again for sharing their story on our program. I want to thank everyone who responded to us and I frankly hope that this story can elicit some change. If you're a Canadian attorney or expert, someone who knows Canadian law, better documents requests, a journalist, somebody who could provide some further insider recommendations on how the Mitchells might break this loop and get their hands on the police files, we'd love to hear from you. Or if you could give more information on these situations and what the Mitchells can learn from, that would be great. Thank you for listening.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Thanks so much for listening to the Murder Sheet. If you have a tip concerning one of the cases we cover, please email [e-mail] if you have actionable information about an unsolved crime, please report it to the appropriate authorities.

[Anya Cain]

If you're interested in joining our Patreon, that's available at www.patreon.com murdersheet. If you want to tip us a bit of money for records requests, you can do so at www.buymeacoffee.com murdersheet. We very much appreciate any support.

[Kevin Greenlee]

Special thanks to Kevin Tyler Greenlee, who composed the music for the Murder Sheet and who you can find on the [e-mail] if you're looking to talk with.

[Anya Cain]

Other listeners about a case we've covered, you can join the Murder Sheet discussion group on Facebook. We mostly focus our time on research and reporting, so we're not on social media much. We do try to check our email account, but we ask for patience as we often receive a lot of messages. Thanks again for listening. If you're like me, you're so into true crime that you kind of get extra careful about stuff, making sure you're not followed, for instance, staying situationally aware and of course checking the locks on your doors and windows before bed. Better safe than sorry, right? Because we all know bad stuff can and unfortunately does happen.

[Kevin Greenlee]

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[Anya Cain]

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[Kevin Greenlee]

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[Anya Cain]

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[Podcast Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

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