BREAKING: Father of missing five-year-old says she was abducted by her mother

The father of a five-year-old Nakina Boyer, who went missing from Mississauga First Nation with her mother five days ago, is frustrated that an Amber Alert hasn’t been triggered by police. 

Fred Robinson says that’s because the mother fled the small community just west of Blind River, Ont. — with their daughter in tow — after he was awarded custody of Boyer in family court on the morning of their disappearance. 

The Batchewana First Nation resident reached out to SooToday after Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) declined his request to term the disappearance as an abduction in a news release issued to media outlets earlier this week.      

“They’re not missing — my daughter has been abducted, and the mother lost custody. She’s just fleeing,” Robinson said. 

In its release, East Algoma OPP said the pair were reported missing after they failed to attend a "scheduled appointment.” But according to Robinson, that scheduled appointment was actually police showing up at the mother’s residence, accompanied by a child welfare worker, in order to apprehend Boyer and bring her into her father’s care following Monday’s court decision.

But when police arrived, Robinson says, all they found were footprints and a set of tracks — presumably from wheels on rolling luggage — leading to the end of the driveway. “The police phoned me back and said they’re missing,” he said. 

According to East Algoma OPP, four criteria need to be met in order to trigger an Amber Alert in Ontario: 

1. Police believe a child under 18 years of age has been abducted
2. Police believe the child is in danger
3. There is descriptive information on one or more of the following: child, abductor, vehicle
4. There’s a belief an immediate broadcast alert will help in locating the child

But the OPP told SooToday on Thursday that two criteria were not met in this case: Police did not believe Boyer was abducted, or that she was in danger.

When pressed by SooToday the following day, however, East Algoma OPP stood by its decision not to issue an Amber Alert — despite the fact that Boyer’s mother is currently “evading police.” 

“Amber Alerts are taken very seriously for good reason and there is very strict criteria that must be met in order to activate this type of alert,” said East Algoma OPP Const. Phil Young in an email to SooToday Friday. “Because police believe the mother is caring for the child still, part of the Amber Alert criteria was not met.” 

No further details are being released by the OPP out of concern that doing so could potentially jeopardize the investigation. 

But one more detail has been confirmed by police: Boyer’s mother is Jeanette Niganobe, who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 for impaired driving causing the death of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Const. Donald Doucet in a May 2006 collision at the intersection of Black Road and McNabb Street. 

Niganobe was also sentenced to another two-and-a-half year sentence for impaired driving causing serious injury to Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Const. William Freeman, who was driving the police cruiser Doucet was in at the time.   

Robinson says he hasn’t seen his daughter since March 2023, when Niganobe began defying a court order allowing Boyer’s father to visit her every other weekend. 

In July 2023, the Superior Court of Justice awarded Robinson $75,000 in damages after he successfully sued Niganobe for making a series of false and defamatory statements about her former spouse and business partner on social media. Robinson and Niganobe jointly operated a discount cigarette business in Batchewana First Nation prior to the pair's split. 

“It’s been pretty mind blowing, the whole situation,” Robinson said.  

Robinson travelled down to Toronto the day after Boyer's disappearance, following up on a lead that Niganobe had fled down there after losing custody of their daughter in court. He’s been holed up in a hotel room ever since, hoping for any shred of information that could lead to the safe return of his daughter. 

East Algoma OPP has confirmed a number of police agencies are currently involved with the investigation, including Toronto Police Service.

Boyer is described as Indigenous, four feet tall and 80 lbs. with a heavy build, brown eyes and straight light brown hair. Niganobe is described as Indigenous, 5-foot-3 in height and approximately 145 lbs. with a medium build, brown eyes and long brown hair.

Niganobe has previous ties to Batchewana First Nation, Sault Ste. Marie, Garden River First Nation and Toronto and may be using McCoy as a last name. 

Robinson says he still doesn't understand why police are obscuring the fact that his daughter has been abducted by Niganobe. “The police have told me she’s going to get charged for abduction, and they don’t want to post that. I don’t know why,” he said. 

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Boyer and Niganobe is urged to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or their nearest police authority.

Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or at www.saultcrimestoppers.com.