A mother from Lake Manitoba First Nation is still searching for answers and accountability, two years after the disappearance and death of her son.
Two years ago today, Lyndon McIvor, 25, vanished from Lake Manitoba First Nation after a night out with friends. His remains were found in the community five days later, and RCMP deemed his death to be a homicide.
“Every day I wake up hoping someone says something,” Cheryl Maytwayashing, Lyndon’s mother, told Global News.
“Some nights I don’t sleep. Or when I sleep, when I get up, I check right away to see if I get texts or if I get phone calls saying, ‘Hey, we got something.’”
“Two years is too long to be waiting for answers,” she said through tears.
On the morning of Aug. 26, 2023, Maytwayashing received a call from Lyndon’s brothers telling her that Lyndon didn’t return home. Family and friends quickly began searching.
“Saturday we went driving around and checking places, just checking places and he was nowhere,” Maytwayashing said.
“Sunday afternoon, my friends showed up and we started searching the last place we knew where he was. So we searched those areas, he was nowhere. Went to houses and asked, they didn’t see him.”
Lyndon was reported missing on Aug. 27, 2023. Maytwayashing says search and rescue teams were sent out and a few days later RCMP’s major crimes unit became involved.
“Everything happened so fast,” she said. “All we did was kept walking… searching…. (he was) nowhere.”
On Aug. 31, 2023, five days after Lyndon disappeared, community searchers found Lyndon’s remains down a trail and alongside the edge of a wooded area on Lake Manitoba First Nation.
RCMP investigators believe Lyndon’s remains were dumped there. Two days later, on Sept. 2, 2023, RCMP arrested 36-year-old Barry Leslie Swan of Lake Manitoba First Nation in connection with Lyndon’s death and charged him with second-degree murder. Those charges were later stayed.
RCMP aren’t sharing any details on suspects, the stayed charges, potential motives, or cause of death, but say they believe there are people in the community who know what happened and who is responsible, and are urging them to come forward.
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“We do have a theory as to what happened, but we need people to come forward and give us the evidence we need to take the investigation to the next stage,” Sgt. James Demidiuk of RCMP’s major crime services told Global News.
“We can’t solve crime without help from the community, and we need people to come forward to tell us what they know so we can hold those people accountable and bring closure to Lyndon’s family.”
For Maytwayashing, it’s meant a long two years of agonizing pain due to the unknown. She also holds on to memories — remembering Lyndon as an outgoing and caring son, brother, and father of two young boys.
His Indigenous name was Fast Running Cloud, which Maytwayashing now has tattooed on her arm. She says he also loved sports and was a goalie on his hockey team.
“He was a competitive guy, and he was a very clean guy. He’d shower three times a day; he’d always make sure his hair was fixed,” she said.
“He liked cleaning up, he liked taking care of others, he always helped me with his brothers, he took care of his brothers — he has two little boys that he took care of.”
She says she still doesn’t know how Lyndon died due to the ongoing investigation.
“I want peace of mind, too, to (know) what happened to my son. I want people to talk. This is a life, I brought this life here,” she said through tears.
“I brought this life in this world, I just want answers. He was my first born. He taught me how to be a mom. He went through everything with me. He helped me take care of his sick brothers. He had his own family.”
Maytwayashing also believes there are people in the community who know what happened and who did it.
“And I know, as much as I’m hurting, you are also hurting because you’re carrying something big. Maybe if you talk about it, you’ll feel better,” Maytwayashing said.
“I always think, if this happened to another mom, if this happened to another mom and my kids were responsible, I’d tell on them, because they can still talk to their child… I can’t. He was taken,” she added.
“Two years is long enough not to know what happened to your child.”
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