EARLY LIFE:
Josephine Chakasim was from Moosonee, located just south of Hudson Bay, in Northern Ontario. She came from a large family that included her parents, Joseph and Hannah Chakasim, and her seven siblings: Anastasia, John, Remi, Theresa, Mary Louise, Peter and Mike.
At the time of her death, Josephine was just 17 years old.
DEATH:
Josephine was last seen on the night of April 21, 1977. She’d went out for the night and never returned home.
Dates vary as to when the 17-year-old’s body was discovered. Some sources claim it was the next day, while others state it was two days after. A hunter came across the teenager’s body in the water, near the Ontario Northland railway tracks.
An autopsy was performed on Josephine’s body, with the coroner determining she’d died of exposure. They also noted that there was no evidence of trauma. Satisfied with these findings, the Criminal Investigation Branch of the Ontario Provincial Police closed the case less than a year later.
RENEWED INVESTIGATION:
Over 40 years later, in October 2017, Detective Inspector Gilles Deparatto announced that the OPP was reviewing old cases involving Indigenous people. Among them was Josephine’s death. A review of the forensic pathology was ordered, and the results came back inconclusive, meaning homicide couldn’t be ruled out.
The last update from the OPP stated that a case manager was going to review DNA and any persons of interest.
Josephine’s family alleges evidence was overlooked, including bruises and cuts on the 17-year-old’s body, because she was Indigenous. They’d questioned the coroner’s findings from the beginning, with Rachel Chakasim telling the media prior to her death in 2022 that there was “so much evidence along the tracks”. This included her sister’s cigarette lighter and glasses, which were found on the opposite side of the railway tracks, indicating a possible struggle.
Rachel also didn’t believe Josephine died of exposure, and claimed that an investigator had previously told her that her sister had trauma consistent with being hit in the head with a yet-to-be-identified weapon. There are also marks on her body.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
The current status of Josephine’s case is currently unknown.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Criminal Investigation Branch of the OPP at +1 (888) 310-1122.
Image Credit: CBC
Stories of the Unsolved 