Missing woman’s sister pleads for help, FSIN calls for thorough search

Search efforts for Dawn Walker and a boy are continuing just outside Riverside Country Club near Saskatoon.

On Tuesday morning, a tent serving as a hub was set up at the end of the road, just outside the country club’s gates along the Meewasin Trail. Just beyond that area, a small gravel parking lot was taken over by RCMP vehicles with resources for the search.

Walker’s truck was found in that very parking lot Monday morning, according to Staff Sgt. Greg Abbott, a district manager with the RCMP.

“This is so unlike Dawn to just leave and go,” Walker’s sister, Patricia Dorion, shared through tears Tuesday morning.

“We have a lot of family and friends here that are concerned about her.”

Underwater, surface water, shore and land searches are happening around the area near the river in Chief Whitecap Park where some of Walker’s belongings were found, but the RCMP said there are no new clues since those discoveries that could point to where Walker and a seven-year-old boy might be.

Some who spoke with Walker before her disappearance heard she had planned to go fishing, but FSIN Vice Chief Heather Bear thinks there could be more to the situation. Bear said Walker has been a victim of domestic violence in the past.

“We are not ruling out foul play,” Bear said.

Abbott said the police have not ruled out foul play either, but no evidence of it has been found yet. He said the RCMP is aware of the domestic violence Walker has faced, and is looking into it as part of the investigation.

The boy is also considered missing, Abbott said, though police do not have confirmation that he was with the woman when she disappeared.

The RCMP, Saskatoon police, Prince Albert Grand Council, FSIN, Civil Air Search and Rescue Association, volunteers, and underwater search and rescue teams from as far away as Winnipeg are all involved in the search efforts. Police dogs and drones are also being used.

Abbott asked the public to stay away from the search area and requested that no private drones be flown over the area, as they could interfere with the search. He said police are respecting the wishes of friends and family to be on the site so they can pray and smudge.

Situations like this have no “usual” outcome, Abbott said. Sometimes they end with everyone found safe, but in other cases the situation could be the result of a tragic accident or foul play.

Bear said searching for a friend, loved one and colleague is devastating. Both Walker’s family and her FSIN community, where she is an executive operating officer, have been emotional over the past two days, she said.

“(There are) so many questions more than answers right now, and we need answers,” Bear said.

Bear noted that Walker has been instrumental in investigating missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in the past.

“Sadly, this is not new for us, but I’m shocked that we have a missing vulnerable Indigenous woman, one of our own,” Bear shared.

The vice chief called on the RCMP to investigate all aspects of Walker’s disappearance, and to listen to her family and colleagues.

“Too many times we have our missing people not investigated properly. We’re not going to allow that to happen here,” Bear said. “We, as Indian people, we’ve had to push for the truth. We’ve never seen justice.”

The RCMP, FSIN and Walker’s sister are pleading for anyone with information about Walker’s disappearance to come forward and speak with authorities.

A candlelight vigil for Walker was scheduled to take place at Chief Whitecap Park on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.