Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Holman (Mar 06/02) - Preliminary autopsy results on a seven-week-old Holman infant found outside a home here are "inconclusive," according to NWT chief coroner Percy Kinney.

"There were no injuries or natural disease processes that would have caused death," said Kinney.

Joretta Inuktalik was discovered outside her house early Friday morning by a Holman resident.

Asked to confirm reports the infant was wearing only a diaper and T-shirt when she was found, Kinney replied, "Offhand, I don't know, but I suspect it wasn't more than a diaper and sleeper."

The temperature on the day Inuktalik's body was found reached a high of -17.4 C with a windchill of -33.6.

At that temperature and wind chill, frostbite occurs on exposed skin in 10 to 15 minutes, said an Environment Canada spokesperson.

An autopsy was performed Monday afternoon in Edmonton.

Cpl. Debra Morris, the RCMP officer in Holman, said she would conclude her investigation, "as soon as I have more information from the autopsy report."

Kinney said the pathology report will now focus on "a process of elimination."

Asked how the community of 470 was coping with the tragedy, hamlet senior administrator Eleanor Young replied, "How do you expect the community to be feeling?"

She declined further comment, saying it wouldn't be "appropriate to talk until all the facts are available."

A source close to the investigation said trained local residents are available for people struggling with the community's loss.

"We have local people, we have Holman Social Services, we have family members, we're all making ourselves available," the source said.

If necessary, the source said the community will call on "regional resources."

Police and the coroner's office are now awaiting results of toxicology and tissue analysis, which Kinney said will take several weeks.

A final autopsy report is expected to take between 10 and 12 weeks.