REGINA (CP) -- A man who was allegedly assaulted at the home of Tamra Keepness the night she disappeared says the last time he saw her, she was sleeping safely.
In an interview with CBC Newsworld on Tuesday, Russell Sheepskin explained that he was living at the Keepness home in July and often babysat the family's six children.
"I really cared about those kids and I still do," Sheepskin said.
"I don't want to get blamed for something that I didn't do . . . I don't know where this baby is."
Sheepskin said he had been drinking with Dean McArthur, the live-in boyfriend of Tamra's mother, Lorena Keepness. He said he blacked out and woke up in his basement bedroom. At that point he was the only adult home, so he went upstairs to check on the kids.
He said he saw three of the children, including Tamra, sleeping.
Tamra was last seen by her mother going to bed about 11 p.m. on July 5. According to Sheepskin's recollection, the girl was still in bed four hours after that.
He went out on the porch for a smoke and was then attacked, he said.
"He was stomping on me. He was hitting me, just about knocked me out," Sheepskin said.
McArthur was charged weeks later with assaulting Sheepskin. McArthur has said there was no connection between Tamra's disappearance and the fight.
Sheepskin said he told the police he left the home that morning and didn't go back. Police asked him to take a lie detector test, he said, and he agreed.
Despite intensive searches by police and volunteers in the last five weeks, no trace of Tamra has been found.
