Tina Fontaine. Photo from Missing People

Authorities in Winnipeg, Manitoba, have launched an internal probe after learning that two officers came into contact with a missing Native girl but let her go anyway.

The officers found 15-year-old Tina Fontaine in a vehicle on August 8. She had been reported missing a week earlier but they didn't keep her in custody even though they apparently ran her name through the police system.

"How can you not know? It should have came up she was a missing girl, but they just let her go," Tina's aunt, Thelma Favel, told CBC News.

Fontaine was last seen alive on August 9 by an acquaintance. A week later, her body was found in the Red River. Authorities are treating her death as a homicide.

Fontaine was from the Sagkeeng First Nation. She was in the care of Child and Family Services and was living in a foster home when she went missing.

Get the Story:
Tina Fontaine died because police, CFS failed her, family says (CBC 9/25)
Tina Fontaine last seen leaving with man in West End, says friend (CBC 9/25)

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