Dawn Walker, a Canadian author accused of fleeing to Oregon under an assumed name after faking her death and the death of her 7-year-old son, is expected to be driven back to the border Wednesday by federal Homeland Security officials and turned over to Canadian authorities.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman on Tuesday afternoon approved the informal extradition agreement, which federal prosecutors arranged with Walker’s lawyer.
Walker, 48, along with her son, had crossed the border into the United States on July 23 to avoid a custody dispute, federal prosecutors allege. Walker was arrested after the two were found at an Airbnb in Oregon City on Aug. 5, according to court records.
Walker, who lived in Saskatoon, is a writer from the Okanese Cree Nation and has authored four books under the name Dawn Dumont. Her 2021 novel, “The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour,” was shortlisted for the 2022 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, a Canadian literary prize. Last year, she won 11% of the vote as a Liberal candidate for Canada’s Parliament from the Saskatoon-University district. She also worked as a columnist at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
She is expected to be prosecuted in Canada on allegations of parental abduction in contravention of a custody order and public mischief, though additional allegations are being considered, according to the Saskatoon Police Service.
The federal charges filed in Oregon — aggravated identity theft and possession of false identification documents — will remain active as the case in Canada goes forward, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin.
“Canada can proceed on their charges, and then we will simply watch those unfold, and, as necessary, deal with our charges in the future,” Kerin said.
Walker, dressed in blue jail scrubs, appeared in U.S. District Court in Portland via video from the U.S. Marshal’s lockup, seated in front of a cinderblock wall, listening to the hearing by phone.
Walker agreed to waive a formal extradition hearing to return to Canada sooner to face the charges, said her lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Megha Desai.
Desai told the judge that Walker has worked for the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations for nearly 10 years and has significant community ties in Saskatchewan. She said Walker is a victim of intimate partner abuse and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.
Walker will be brought Wednesday morning from jail to the U.S Marshals Service office, where she will be turned over to the custody of two Department of Homeland Security agents who will drive her to the Canadian border. There, she will be handed over to Canadian law enforcement, Kerin said.
The judge briefly addressed Walker directly. “Ms. Walker, most people in our courtrooms arrive here after experiencing some trauma in their lives. And that’s especially true for women who end up in our courtrooms,” Beckerman said. “I’m sorry that you weren’t able to get the support that you needed at home and that you ended up in an Oregon courtroom. I hope that you are able to see your son again soon.’'
Canadian authorities thought Walker, 48, and her son may have been “swept away” while fishing by the edge of a riverbank in Canada’s Chief Whitecap Park, south of Saskatoon, according to a federal affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
A passerby on July 23 reported to police finding a purse, a broken fishing pole halfway in the water and a blanket left on the ground, the affidavit said. Walker’s red Ford F-150 truck was parked nearby.
Authorities said they tracked Walker’s bank accounts and learned weeks later that she had assumed a friend’s identity without permission and left the country.
Searches of the blue Chevrolet Equinox she was driving in Oregon and the Airbnb indicated signs of preparation, the affidavit said, including “to do” lists, with reminders to “Dye hair,” “Cover tattoo” and “find nearest border.”
Upon Walker’s arrest, the Oregon Department of Human Services, working with Canadian law enforcement, took custody of Walker’s son and notified the child’s father so they could be reunited.
When arrested in Oregon City and told that her family and friends presumed she and her son had died in the river, Walker responded, “He doesn’t want to be with his father,” special agent Clinton Lindsly of Homeland Security Investigations wrote in the affidavit.
At the time she left Canada, Walker worked as the chief executive officer of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, an organization representing 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan.
A gofundme page called #StandWithDawn has raised about $27,000 for her legal defense. It describes Walker as an Indigenous woman, published author, playwright and community leader “who has dedicated her life to telling the stories of First Nations people and has worked diligently to advance the rights and well-being of Indigenous women, families and communities. Now, she needs our help.” It further says many Indigenous women feel helpless within the current justice system.
In the federal affidavit, the agent wrote that Walker had a business bank account called “Wapan Consulting” that showed two large checks totaling $77,000 written out in early June to the name of Walker’s friend. Walker assumed the friend’s identity without permission, according to the affidavit.
The two checks were deposited into a Tangerine Direct Bank account in Canada under the friend’s name and used to pay charges for food, gas, hotels, the Airbnb rental and Netflix from July 25 through Aug. 4, according to Lindsly.
Investigators traced the charges, which started in Butte, Montana, near the Canadian border, continued in Billings, Montana, to Spokane and then to Umatilla and Rufus, Oregon, before leading to Oregon City in early August, Lindsly wrote.
Lindsly noted that he found in Walker’s possession a genuine Saskatchewan birth certificate in the friend’s name that Walker was using and one in the name of the friend’s child that held a photo of Walker’s son.
The investigator also located a notarized letter titled ”STATUTORY TRAVEL DECLARATION” and dated June 28 that purported to provide travel authorization by the boy’s father for him to travel into the United States for a wedding in South Dakota.
The boy’s father never provided such authorization, investigators said.
