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Hikers alert after woman approached by suspicious man in Harrison Mills

The woman and her family were hiking in the wetlands between Rowena’s Inn and Sts’ailes First Nation
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The approximate area where a woman and her kids were hiking when she said they were approached by a man wanting to hike with them to a beaver dam on the Sts’ailes First Nation. (Google Maps)

There’s been a flurry of activity in local Facebook groups as hikers are sharing the story of a woman who said she and her children were approached by a suspicious man while hiking in Harrison Mills.

According to a Facebook post, which has been shared in a number of different community groups, the woman and her kids were hiking in the wetlands between Rowena’s Inn and the Sts’ailes First Nation several days ago. The post said her kids were approached by a man, who invited them to hike to a beaver dam in the Sts’ailes First Nation.

“This area is well off the beaten path and not somewhere you would ever go with a stranger particularly if you are a woman alone with her children,” the post reads. “He was very persistent asking at least three times, getting my younger (two) arguing as well to be able to go, I continued to decline his offer.”

The family hiked away, but the man returned again after allegedly taking surreptitious photos of the family.

The post said she “unloaded holy hell on him” after her kids had hiked a little out of earshot, and told him he was being inappropriate. The man left, and the family finished their hike safely.

Agassiz RCMP say they did get a call from the woman several days after her hike, but don’t have any more information on the situation. The RCMP have not received any similar calls.

“The behaviour itself is concerning,” Staff-Sgt. Darren Rennie said. “It may not be criminal, but it’s definitely concerning.”

Anyone finding themselves in a similar situation should call police as soon as they can, Rennie said.

“If they can, call police straight away,” he said. “Or get to somewhere where there’s population.”

Editor’s note: the original version of this story had included the name of the woman who shared her story on Facebook, as the post was originally public. However, the original poster reached out to the Agassiz Harrison Observer to express concerns about her safety in regards to the story and has since taken down the post or made it private. Because of these factors, we felt it best to remove her name from the story.



grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com

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