Sask. woman, accused of faking own death, says she had 'no choice' but to flee

The Saskatoon woman accused of staging the disappearance of herself and her son has issued a statement to CBC News from an Oregon jail.

Dawn Walker, 48, was the subject of an extensive missing persons search after she disappeared with her son about two weeks ago. She was found and arrested in Oregon City on Friday and has been detained in the U.S. since.

"I left Saskatoon because I feared for my safety and that of my son," Walker said in a written statement to CBC News. She didn't name the person she said she fears, but Walker has previously made domestic violence allegations against her ex, who is the father of her seven-year-old son. 

Police have said the domestic violence allegations were investigated, but unfounded. 

Walker's friend, Eleanore Sunchild, recorded Walker's statement during a visit at the Multnomah County Jail in Portland on Monday. 

Walker is charged in the U.S. with aggravated identity theft, which, if convicted, would lead to a minimum prison sentence of two years. She has also been criminally charged with parental abduction and public mischief in Canada. 

U.S. prosecutors allege that Walker faked her and her son's deaths as part of an elaborate scheme that involved stolen identities and a fraudulent bank account. Police were able to locate Walker and her son last Friday by following bank transactions for gas, food, Netflix and Airbnb rentals. 

Walker said she was "failed by the Saskatchewan Justice system, the family law system and child protection."

She said she previously filed domestic abuse reports with Saskatoon police and RCMP and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The police services did nothing to assist me. I reported my concerns to the child protection authorities and again nothing was done. I am fighting systems that continuously fail to protect me as an Indigenous woman and protect non-Indigenous men," Walker said.

"So many women and children before us have had to run for their lives to protect their children. The SPS and RCMP only cared when they thought I was dead and the pressure they were under because of their blatant failures."

Before Walker was located by police, her friends and family suggested foul play or interpersonal violence could be involved in her disappearance. Saskatoon police were asked Monday about the allegations. 

"Any potential or any previous allegations made by Dawn Walker were thoroughly investigated and no charges resulted as a result of those investigations," Saskatoon police Deputy Chief Randy Huisman said. 

The allegations of domestic abuse were also put directly to her ex, the father of the seven-year-old, by CKOM before Walker and her son were found.