Daughter, 18, charged with 2nd-degree murder after woman reported missing in Ottawa

An 18-year-old woman has been chargedwith second-degree murderafter her mother was reported missing earlier this month.

Susan Kublu-Iqqittuq, 37, was last seen by her family on Jan. 11.

Ottawa police had been asking for the public's assistance finding her, and had released video footage of the Inuk woman walking near Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue on Jan. 10, one day before she disappeared.

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Lennese Kublu has now been charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a human body in relation to her mother's death, police said.

The family confirmed with CBC News that Kublu is the daughter of the woman who was reported missing.

Ottawa police are using the spelling "Kuplu" for both women, who originally come from Nunavut. Police said that their major crime unit is investigating.

Searching landfill

Police said Saturday afternoon that a body has not been found, but police believe Kublu-Iqqittuq is dead.

Police said they are searching the Trail Road landfill in southwest Ottawa.

Kublu's lawyer, Marie-Jose Lafleur, whoalso works in Nunavut, says while this homicide charge is inOttawa, the case speaks to a larger problem of homicides in Canada's North.

"There is a serious, serious problem that I think needs to be, that the Canadian population need to be made aware of and we need to address that," said Lafleur. She said she believes if the homicide rates were as high in Ontario as the North, there would be public outcry for more services to address the issue.

• Northern territories had highest crime rates, severity in Canada in 2017

"I don't think this is just one homicide in Ottawa. I think this is something that we need to make people aware of that is very problematic in the territories and it's very concerning," said Lafleur.

"And the reason I say that is I'm also a member of theNunavut bar, and I'm fairly new there, and it's something that is strikingly very problematic that I see up north," she said.

Police located Lennese Kublu in Toronto Tuesday night. Lafleur said her client has been detained in Ottawa and appeared in court by video in Ottawa Saturday morning.

Lafleur said she doesn't have many details on the case yet, and the matter has been put over in order to obtain police disclosure. None of the charges have been proven in court.

"Disclosure is the police reports. So the police have gathered evidence. The police have an obligation to disclose to the Crown, and then the Crown will subsequently send to the lawyers," she said.

Kublu is expected to appear in court again on Jan. 30, 2019 at 1:30 p.m.