Tanya Jean Brooks was 36 years old when she was murdered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in May 2009. She was a Mi’kmaq woman associated with Millbrook First Nation and the mother of five children. More than seventeen years later, no one has been charged with taking her life. Her murder remains unsolved, and investigators have repeatedly said they believe there are people who know what happened to Tanya but have never told police everything they know.
Tanya was born on May 28, 1972. Those who loved her have worked for years to ensure she is remembered for much more than the circumstances of her death. She was a daughter, sister, mother and member of the Mi’kmaq community. Tanya was known to spend time in Halifax’s Gottingen Street area, and it was there that investigators were able to establish some of her final movements.
Sunday, May 10, 2009, was Mother’s Day. That evening, Tanya was at Halifax Regional Police Headquarters at 1975 Gottingen Street. At approximately 8:20pm, she left the building. Publicly available police information does not explain why Tanya had been at headquarters that evening, leaving one of the many unanswered questions surrounding her final hours.
Tanya did not disappear immediately after leaving the police station. Investigators were eventually able to trace her movements until approximately 9:00pm. However, police have never publicly provided a complete account of where she went or whom she encountered during those final 40 minutes.
After approximately 9:00pm, Tanya’s publicly known trail ends.
The following afternoon, May 11, 2009, someone made a terrible discovery at the former St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School on Maitland Street. At approximately 2:20pm, Tanya’s body was found in a basement window well at the school. Authorities determined that she had been the victim of a homicide. Her precise cause of death has not been publicly released by investigators.
Police began interviewing people and canvassing the neighbourhood surrounding the school. Despite those efforts, investigators received limited information about what had happened. Only two months after Tanya’s death, the Province of Nova Scotia added her case to its Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program. Authorities made it clear that they believed people possessed information that could help investigators determine who was responsible.
One of the most significant pieces of information police have disclosed over the years is their belief that Tanya knew her assailant or assailants. Investigators have never publicly identified that person or named a suspect, but their statements indicate that they do not believe Tanya was simply attacked at random by a complete stranger.
That makes the missing portion of Tanya’s final evening particularly important. Somewhere after her last publicly accounted-for movements at approximately 9:00pm. and before her body was discovered the following afternoon, Tanya apparently encountered someone she knew.
Who that person was remains unknown to the public.
The timing of Tanya’s visit to police headquarters also raises an understandable question: why was she there that evening? Police have never publicly explained the purpose of her visit. There is no reliable evidence establishing that Tanya had gone there to report someone, provide information about another person or seek protection. Investigators may know considerably more about the circumstances of her visit than has ever been released publicly, and some details may have deliberately been withheld to protect the integrity of the investigation.
The location where Tanya was discovered creates another unanswered question. Was she killed at the former St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School, or was her body brought there afterward? Public statements from investigators do not definitively answer that question. What police have done is repeatedly appeal to anyone who saw Tanya or noticed anything unusual around the school after approximately 9:00pm. on May 10 to come forward. That suggests the area surrounding the school during those hours remains important to the investigation, but it does not necessarily establish that Tanya was killed there.
As the years passed, Tanya’s murder never disappeared from the police files. Investigators continued to issue appeals around anniversaries of her death, repeating their belief that someone possesses information that could help solve the case. They have emphasized that even information that seems insignificant to the person holding it could prove important when combined with evidence already known to police.
Tanya’s family has also refused to allow her to be forgotten. Her sister and other relatives have participated in memorials and public appeals over the years, reminding people that Tanya was much more than an unsolved homicide case. She was a mother whose five children lost her, a sister whose family continues to miss her, and a woman who should have had the opportunity to watch her family grow.
Annual gatherings in Tanya’s memory have incorporated Mi’kmaq traditions, including drumming, singing, candles and tobacco offerings. The gatherings are both memorials and continuing calls for justice. Each anniversary represents another year Tanya’s family has lived without knowing who was responsible for her death.
Her murder has also become part of the broader conversation surrounding violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Tanya was killed years before the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls brought much greater national attention to the disproportionate violence experienced by Indigenous women. For Tanya’s family and community, however, that reality was already painfully personal.
In May 2025, sixteen years after Tanya’s murder, the Special Investigation Section of the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division again appealed for information. Investigators continued to state that they believed Tanya knew whoever was responsible and that people still possessed information that had not been provided to police.
In May 2026, Tanya’s family, friends and supporters once again gathered in Halifax to remember her. Seventeen years had passed since she was found dead, but there had still been no publicly announced arrest or charge.
The Province of Nova Scotia continues to offer a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Tanya’s murder. Her case remains listed through the province’s Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program.
What makes Tanya’s case so frustrating is how much investigators appear to know—and how small the missing portion of her final timeline seems to be.
At approximately 8:20pm on Mother’s Day 2009, Tanya walked out of Halifax Regional Police Headquarters. Investigators were able to trace her movements until roughly 9:00pm. The following afternoon, at approximately 2:20pm, her body was discovered in a basement window well beside the former St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School.
Police believe Tanya knew the person or people that are responsible for her death.
They also believe someone still knows something.
Seventeen years later, Tanya’s children and family continue waiting for that person to finally speak.
If you have information on this Tanya’s case, please contact any of the following:
Halifax Regional Police: 902-490-5020
Reference #: GO 09-66613
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477)
Online at: https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip
Crime Stoppers provides anonymous tipping
Information qualifying for Nova Scotia’s Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program can be provided at 1-888-710-9090, with a reward of up to $150,000 available for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Sources: Nova Scotia Department of Justice – Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes, Halifax Regional Police / Integrated Criminal Investigation Division, Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, Government of Nova Scotia, Halifax CityNews, Global News.
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