SASKATCHEWAN - Update 2: The gentleman who contacted SASKTODAY.ca saying he believed he had helped missing woman Amanda Ahenakew out of the ditch now says he believes it was not Ahenakew.
"After talking with other residents in town, I can confirm with 100 per cent certainty, that the gal I helped was NOT Amanda that I had helped outside of town," he told SASKTODAY.ca on Friday. "It was a friend of one of my neighbours that was visiting from out of town. She must have acted the way she did from being approached by someone she didn’t know, as people stopping to genuinely offer help doesn’t happen very often in the city. I apologize for wasting your time. I still feel it was worth reporting even though I was mistaken, as I’m sure Amanda has family that is longing for her return or for any information regarding her whereabouts. Thank you for your help, it was much appreciated."
Update: Regina Police Service has been provided an updated photo of Amanda Ahenakew and notified to be on the lookout for her, Cpl. S. Dutch of High River RCMP told SASKTODAY.ca Monday afternoon.
Cpl. Dutch said he saw the SASKTODAY.ca story about the man saying he believed he pulled Amanda Ahenakew out of the ditch and believed the man's information to be credible so he provided the information to Regina Police Service.
Original story: A man in Saskatchewan claims to have pulled a woman - who has been missing five months - from a ditch after spotting her vehicle while he was driving home.
Amanda Ahenakew, 43, was reported as missing to the High River, Alta., RCMP on March 15. She was last seen in High River on Nov. 16, 2022. RCMP had said that it’s possible Ahenakew is in Saskatchewan or Alberta.
The passerby, who wanted to remain unnamed, had emailed SASKTODAY.ca saying he helped pull Ahenakew out of the ditch.
“It was the 13th [March],” he said during a phone interview Sunday. “I remember because it was my kid’s birthday. We were on our way back from him getting his license.”
He said it was around supper time just outside of Rouleau, Sask.
“She was in the ditch. She slid in the ditch with her car. It was a cream-coloured Chrysler PT Cruiser. The dash is all taped up with like red tape. That’s what’s holding it together.
“It’s a small town and we always stop to make sure everybody’s OK,” he added. “I think she was spun around in the ditch facing backwards.
“I pulled over and asked her if she had help on the way to make sure that she’s not sitting there in the cold and she said she was trying. She said, ‘I’m not from here.’”
The woman told the passerby that she had called a towing company and was quoted $200 for a price to get pulled out, which she couldn’t afford.
“I called one of my buddies and we hooked up to her car and yanked her out of the ditch and then she was on her way. She said she was heading to Regina.”
He said she was alone and told him she was coming from Alberta.
“I don't recall there being Alberta plates on the car, though,” he said. “I'm sure I would have remembered if there was a red plate on that car. But there wasn’t. I don't recall, come to think of it, I don't recall seeing any plate on that car. But I wasn't really looking for one.”
He said she had acted strange, didn’t give her name and was “pretty evasive," adding, “When I first stopped, she didn't even want to look up, like she didn't want to show her face.
“And even another gal, that in town here, had stopped for us and I knew, said she was acting really weird. It never made sense to me. I just thought 'whatever' and I helped her.
“She seemed pretty frazzled. Like she was scared. She didn't want to look up, like direct eye contact, or nothing like that.”
But he said he finally got a good look at her face at the end when she was appreciative and thanked him.
“She said ‘thank you very much,’ and she was on her way to Regina.”
Then when he got home and was scrolling through social media a post about a missing woman popped up on his feed and he clicked on it.
“There was a picture and I was like, ‘oh sh**, that’s the same girl.’”
He said he is almost certain the woman was Amanda Ahenakew.
“I could tell by the eyes, right? She's got like that darkness around her eyes. Her eyes are kind of sunk in a little bit. Really dark brown eyes. I'm assuming that picture doesn't show it but she has long black hair, or long dark brown hair.”
He said his wife insisted that he call Crime Stoppers so he did but said he was given the run-around. He said he contacted Crime Stoppers, who then transferred his call to the Regina Police. The Regina Police transferred his call to the Sask. RCMP, who then transferred his call to the Alberta RCMP who he says told him, “I don’t know why they would transfer you to me.”
He was then transferred to someone else and left on hold for 10 minutes.
“It was terrible. It was like 20 to 25 minutes I was on the phone and barely even got her name out of my mouth.”
SASKTODAY.ca has reached out to RCMP for comment.
— Click for more from Crime, Cops and Court.
