A First Nations woman from Saskatchewan is now facing charges in the United States related to her disappearance.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Oregon filed court documents on the cross-border case of Dawn Walker Monday.
The documents, copies of which were obtained by APTN News, allege Walker is a flight risk and recommend she be held in custody until her next court appearance on Sept. 7.
Walker is charged with aggravated identity theft – a felony – and a misdemeanor charge of identity theft: knowingly producing the passport of another person and having ID that was stolen or produced illegally.
It is also alleged she faked her death and that of her son, who is seven. (APTN has previously identified the boy but is not naming him now that he is safe.)
Legal guardian
In Saskatoon, the police said the boy is back with his legal guardian who is believed to be his father and Walker’s ex-partner.
It is a suprising end to the extensive search for Walker, who is a lawyer and executive operating officer of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), and was last seen at a Saskatoon business on July 22.
FSIN was worried the pair had been abducted and issued its own missing persons alert within the province. Saskatoon police said Monday they were preparing to search the South Saskatchewan River for the bodies when news broke that Walker had been located in Oregon City, Ore., – about 1,400 km south of Saskatoon.
Police there said she was staying in “a rental unit” and “thoughtfully planned and engaged in an elaborate ruse in which she faked her death and that of her son.”
Included in the evidence are to-do lists found in notebooks they allege Walker wrote on how to disappear. The lists say, among other things, “ditch phone in water” and “dye hair”.
Special agent
Clinton Lindsly, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in an afidavit that Walker told him her son “doesn’t want to be with his father.”
The documents show Walker, 48, and her son’s father have been involved in a lengthy custody dispute.
In Canada she is charged with parental abduction and public mischief.
Police in Saskatoon said there could be more charges against Walker, and encouraged anyone with information to contact them.
None of the allegations against Walker have been tested or proven, and she has not yet entered pleas in court.
Meanwhile, supporters of Walker in Saskatoon have been holding walks and rallies. A GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $17,000 towards her defence fund.
The boy’s father declined an interview request from APTN.
