'I just feel so empty': Mother opens up after teenaged daughter’s body recovered by police
The body of a woman reported missing in January has been found by Windsor police and her mother is struggling with the confirmation that her daughter is gone.
Gabrielle Marie Vinall was 19 years old when she was reported missing in January 2023. For months, her mother held out hope that Vinall would one day return home. Today, her hopes are dashed.
“I just feel so empty knowing that she's no longer here,” said Andrea North, Vinall’s mother. “And I don't know how I'm supposed to carry on every day without her. She was such a big part of my life.”
On numerous occasions, North made desperate pleas to the public for help locating her missing daughter.
This past week, Vinall’s body was discovered by Windsor police in the Fighting Island area.
“Not knowing for the past six months was one of the hardest things that I've ever had to experience,” North recalls. “But that being said, the outcome of this and the loss that I'm experiencing… I can't even begin to express how heartbroken I am about this whole situation.”
North says the even harder part is that she never got to say goodbye to her daughter.
“I would have given anything just to be able to have the chance to wrap my arms around her and tell her how much I love her,” she said. “And to see that beautiful smile on my daughter's face that everybody loves so much.”
Police do not believe Vinall’s death to be suspicious in nature.
Vinall lived downtown with no fixed address and spent a lot of time at shelters.
“And in the last few years, given the struggle she had, I always, always tried to instill in her that regardless of her choices, nothing could change the amount of love that I had for her,” said North, who remembers her daughter as a caring and beautiful soul.
“She loved her friends and our family more than anything in the world,” North said. “And she would have done anything to help somebody out.”
On Wednesday, North said she’s planning a proper burial for her daughter.
“I can't even begin to express as a parent how this situation makes me feel, it's every parent's worst nightmare,” North said. “No parent ever imagined that they'll be in a position where they have to bury their child.”
She’s now faced with funeral costs and is struggling to afford what she feels is the right way to lay her daughter to rest.
A GoFundMe page has been started to help offset costs.
“Any amount of help would be greatly appreciated. It will definitely take a lot of stress off of myself,” she said. “Gabrielle was a beautiful person and she deserves to be honored and have a proper burial.”
Despite the sadness, North is grateful for the help of police, local shelters and social workers who pinned up missing person posters to help find her daughter.
“It definitely helps knowing that there's people out there who care,” North said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.