Edmonton healing lodge sees 7th escape since 2024, after manslaughter inmate bolts

Correctional officials are searching for a convicted manslaughter offender who escaped from a minimum-security Indigenous healing lodge in Edmonton early on New Year’s Day.

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Correctional officials are searching for a convicted manslaughter offender who escaped from a minimum-security Indigenous healing lodge in Edmonton early on New Year’s Day, adding to the lengthy list of escapees from the healing centre.

Shelby Crane, 33, was discovered missing during a 1:47 a.m. head count at the Stan Daniels Healing Centre, a Section 81 facility operated by the Native Counselling Services of Alberta under an agreement with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC).

The organization immediately notified the Edmonton Police Service, which has issued a Canada-wide warrant for Crane’s arrest, according to a statement from the CSC.

Crane is described as six feet two inches tall and weighing 241 pounds, with a medium complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

He has multiple tattoos, including a Crook and Castle logo and “Madusa” on his right forearm, “Marlene” on his right hand, “Marilyn” and “Mya” on his right upper arm, a flower-themed sleeve with a lotus and “Makale” on his left upper arm, “S” on his left hand; and a cross on his left wrist.

He is serving a sentence of 10 years, six months, and nine days for manslaughter involving a firearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and obstructing a public or peace officer.

Anyone with information on Crane’s whereabouts is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

The Correctional Service of Canada and Native Counselling Services of Alberta say they are investigating the escape and have provided police with all available information to aid in his recapture.

The incident comes amid a trend of escapes from healing lodges, which are minimum-security facilities designed to incorporate Indigenous cultural practices into rehabilitation.

The incident marks the seventh escape from the centre since 2024.

In 2024 alone, the facility saw five escapes, including that of Evin Sayer in July of that year.

Sayer, then 29, was the fifth inmate to flee the detention facility that year while serving a sentence of seven years, 11 months, and one day for reckless use of firearms, obstructing a peace officer, assault causing bodily harm, and a total of 14 charges, including three counts of failure to comply with conditions.

A 2024 Correctional Service of Canada review, reported on by True North last year, found that seven of nine escapes in 2024, or 72 per cent, occurred at such lodges — up from about half in 2018-2019.

The report noted that 60 per cent of escapees were serving time for violent offences, with 80 per cent fleeing within six months of arrival, after an average of just 4.1 months.