TORONTO -- The mother of a Canadian citizen killed when Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas is asking the federal government for help in bringing her daughter's body back to Canada.
"Let Alishia come home now," Josie McDonagh said in an interview with CTV News Windsor.
"Please do something about it."
McDonagh last talked to her daughter, Alishia Liolli of LaSalle, Ont., on Sept. 1.
Two days later, she learned that Liolli had been one of the more than 40 people killed when Dorian hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane. It is the most powerful hurricane on record in the northwestern part of the country.
Liolli had been living there with her 17-month-old son, who is also Canadian, as well as her husband and three stepchildren. She was working as a special education teacher.
McDonagh said she is working with Liolli's husband to get Liolli's remains returned, but contact has been limited because many parts of the Bahamas remain without electricity and others are completely inaccessible.
Aid flights have become routine in parts of the country that are reachable, as planes arrive with supplies and leave with people who have lost their homes.
In addition to trying to get Liolli's body back to Canada to be buried, McDonagh wants to get her grandson brought back.
"He's Canadian. He should have been there on the first flight," she said.
"I adore him so much. I did promise her that I would take care of him in case something would happen."
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said in a statement that "consular officials are providing assistance to the family at this difficult time. Out of respect for the family, no further information will be released."
An online fundraiser to assist in the transport has raised more than $40,000.
