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Colleen Whitedeer says the system forgot her brother.

“He got lost in the cracks,” said Whitedeer, whose brother Tim Charlette hasn’t been seen or heard from in more than a year.

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Now Whitedeer has embraced a campaign aiming to bring awareness to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous men, something she says needs more recognition even as similar cases involving indigenous women have gained national attention.

Charlette was homeless and addicted to alcohol. He and his girlfriend Beatrice Adam were last seen Oct. 11, 2014, near the train bridge in Prince Albert. Adam’s body was found the next day, but police were never able to figure out what happened to Charlette. Whitedeer said they told her he is believed to have drowned.

Whitedeer said she feels police gave up on finding her brother too quickly, and that his being homeless might be the reason.

“He and his girlfriend were lost in addictions. That probably has a huge effect on why they treated the case the way they did,” she said.