SASKATOON –
A woman who was reported missing with her seven-year-old son is facing criminal charges in Canada and the United States.
Saskatoon police say they have charged Dawn Marie Walker, 48, with abuse of public opinion and kidnapping a parent in violation of a restraining order.
They said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also charged her with a felony count of knowingly presenting another person’s passport and a misdemeanor count of possessing an identity document that was stolen or illegally produced.
Walker and her son were reported missing last month, but police said they were found safe in Oregon City on Friday after they were believed to have crossed the border illegally.
The boy was returned to Canada on Sunday after a legal guardian picked him up, police said
Walker remains in custody in Oregon, where he was scheduled to appear in court Monday on the U.S. charges. Saskatoon police said authorities are working to extradite her back to Canada to face the other crimes.
“As the criminal investigation progresses, there may be additional charges Ms. Walker will face as a result,” Saskatoon Police Deputy Chief Randy Huisman said Monday.
“Investigators are looking into several different allegations and in relation to the false identification documents that were referred to and how she was able to prepare those documents.”
Police said they began searching for Walker and her son on July 24 after friends reported them missing.
Her red Ford F-150 truck was found abandoned days earlier in Chief Whitecap Park, south of Saskatoon, along with some of her personal belongings.
RCMP assisted in the search of the South Saskatchewan River near the park, using land, air and water crews, while providing daily updates to Walker’s family, who attended the searches.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, where Walker serves as chief executive, organized a vigil and walks through the park to raise awareness of the extinction.
The feds also issued their own Amber Alert for Walker and her son and asked the police to do the same. Police said there was no evidence to suggest they were in immediate danger.
“An Amber Alert does not meet provincial or local criteria,” Huisman said. “That person has to be at imminent risk of serious bodily injury or death, and we didn’t have that in this case.” If we followed the provincial and local guidelines, it still wouldn’t meet the parameters.”
On Friday, two weeks after Walker was last seen at a business in Saskatoon, police announced that she had been found “safe and well” with her son in Oregon City, a community on the south end of Portland, Oregon.
Huisman said Walker was found in a rental unit.
The boy’s family released a statement Saturday saying that “during the last two weeks of hell” all they wanted was for Walker and the boy to return safely.
“When we found out they were both safe, there was sobbing, laughing, dancing, shouting, throwing shoes and hugging. Even though we weren’t together, the family celebrated together. We feel like we can finally breathe,” the boy’s family said.
Walker, who is from the Okaneese First Nation, is also a noted author. Her recent book, The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour, published under the name Dawn Dumont, was announced last week as a finalist for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humor.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 8, 2022.
— By Mickey Jurich in Regina
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