Decapitated body found in Manitoba First Nation

Cindy Rubio says police have told her that it'sher daughter's body that was discovered in the Sandy Bay First Nation, about 190 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and thatit wasfound decapitated.

Police told the family the remains of Roberta McIvor, 32, had been found on opposite sides of a road, Rubio told The Canadian Press in a phone interview on Sunday.

RCMP have said publicly onlythat they are investigating the death of a female and that they consider it a homicide. An autopsy was scheduled for later Sunday.

Rubio said she last spoke to her daughter on Friday night, and that she was planning to spend the evening with family and friends.

McIvor leaves behind a 14-year-old daughter.

The close-knit family said the news, and the gruesome circumstances, have been hard to accept.

"We all got along very well. We all loved her so much," said Tracy Levasseur, McIvor's former mother-in-law.

McIvor's cousin, Kayla McIvor, 24, said they spoke to each other every day. She said her cousin was fun, outgoing and liked by everyone.

On Saturday, residents watched as investigators with the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council and RCMP officers withthe major crimes and forensic identification units began to combthe area for clues.

Alvin Levasseur, wholives in Sandy Bay, saidhe went out to take a look on Saturdayafter hearing about the gruesomediscovery.

"Igot up, went to check it out," he said. "There was a police line all around, about half a mile from each other."

Laura Mousseau said the investigators were hard at work on Saturday.

"When I went up there, the forensic team,I guess guys in white, anyways were taking pictures in the ditch," Laura Mousseau told CBC News.

"They were all around there, then they went a little bit north in the bush around my house. They were taking pictures around there, too."

A large area of the reserve was cordoned off as the investigation continued.