Family remembers Samuel Bird as a loved son as police confirm missing Indigenous teen is a suspected homicide victim

“He had a beaming light, an abundance of love. He was full of spirit, promise and love, a child with dreams, laughter and a soul rooted in the strength of our ancestors."

Alanna Bird speaks about her son Samuel after Edmonton police announce that he’s believed to have been a homicide victim. (YouTube/Edmonton Police Service)

This story was originally published in Alberta Native News.

Samuel Bird’s mother says she wants people to remember her son for the way he lived, not how he is believed to have died.

“I want people to remember Samuel not as a headline, not as a case file, but as a loved son, a brother, a cousin and a friend. His laughter, his spirit and his love are what define him, not the circumstances of his disappearance,” Alanna Bird said at an Oct. 1 news conference with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS).

Four months to the day the 14-year-old Indigenous Edmontonian went missing and a day after National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, police announced that Bird is suspected to have been a homicide victim.

Bird’s Cree name is Achakapis, which translates to little boy on the moon. He came from Paul First Nation and also had Nakoda lineage.

“Samuel’s case is a powerful reminder of the inequities indigenous peoples continue to face,” said Det. Jared Buhler, the lead investigator on the case. “We remain committed to seeking the truth with the respect, care and urgency [that] Samuel and all those still waiting for answers deserve.”

Alanna Bird placed her son’s disappearance “in the shadow of a much larger injustice — the ongoing crisis of our missing and murdered indigenous children and youth.”

“This is not just about Samuel. This is about the systems that continue to fail our families in a silence that too often surrounds our pain,” she said.

How the investigation unfolded

Bird left his mother’s residence in the Canora neighbourhood on June 1 at 8 p.m., which was the last time he was seen in person.

“What occurred to Samuel in the hours after he left his mother’s residence remains the subject of this investigation,” said Buhler. “I can now say, based on the totality of information, that there are reasonable grounds to believe Samuel is deceased and his death is criminal in nature.”

Bird’s disappearance was reported to police on June 6, but investigators from the Missing Persons Unit “received information of significant concern” that led to the file being transferred to the Homicide Section on June 16, said the detective.

The teen’s body is suspected of having been disposed of within hours of his disappearance on June 1, and his remains are believed to be on land no more than 150 km outside of Edmonton’s city limits.

Buhler recognized “public scrutiny concerning the police investigation, particularly the timing of the release of information to the public,” which he said “was strategic and carefully considered.”

He added that the investigation was complicated by the case becoming the focus of “astounding” social media attention that he hasn’t seen in his nine years as a homicide detective.

“I can say that there is a lot of misinformation, there’s a lot of conjecture of theories based on nothing more than rumors, and it cost us a significant amount of time that could have been otherwise spent investigating actual evidence,” said Buhler.

At the same time, he acknowledged the likely “unprecedented effort” Achakapis’s family, friends and community undertook in “tirelessly searching” the River Valley and surrounding areas for signs of his whereabouts.

“I’ve remained in close contact with the Bird family, and it has been personally impactful to observe Samuel’s family, guided by culture and faith, never lose hope that they will bring Samuel home,” said Buhler.

‘Even now in his death, he still matters’

In addition to Alanna Bird, Buhler was joined by Bird’s paternal grandmother Geri Potts, father Justin Bird and his kokum, who went unnamed.

“Achakapis was my hero,” said his kokum. “I keep saying that he was the most wonderful child a grandmother would ever have. I never saw bad things. I never heard bad things. I loved him so much.”

Achakapis’s other grandmother said he “had a gift when he came to this world.”

“He had a beaming light, an abundance of love. He was full of spirit, promise and love, a child with dreams, laughter and a soul rooted in the strength of our ancestors,” said Geri Potts.

She added that “losing a loved one to violence is a devastating, life-altering experience that leaves behind a void filled with pain, questions and a deep sense of injustice.”

“He did not deserve to be taken from this world, and the cruelty of his absence does not erase the truth — his life mattered, his future mattered, and even now in his death, he still matters,” Potts said.

Justin Bird said that he and his son “used to hang out in my living room before he went to bed, snacking, watching movies or TV shows — and now his spot sits empty.”

“On car rides, certain songs break me down in tears because I miss my Sammy,” said the father amid tears.

“Going anywhere in the city makes my heart hurt. I have so many memories of my son throughout the years. Samuel was a huge part of my life, and now there’s a hole in my heart that will never be filled.”