Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., might seem an unlikely place for a woman accused of abducting her three kids to hide out.
But the speck on the map containing 1,919 souls and about 70 km northeast of Regina was indeed the burg where Astrid Schiller, 55, was finally nabbed by cops. Her three young children were with her safe, but bewildered.
Police said Schiller allegedly snatched her young children from Clarington on Nov. 17, 2023.
From there, it took almost two weeks to get an emergency court date and order of apprehension. Tack on another two months for a warrant issuance out of Durham.
Last week, Schiller’s bizarre odyssey ended when she was arrested on a warrant for child abduction. Not from Ontario. But from Manitoba.
Sources told the Toronto Sun that since she vanished and allegedly abducted her children — Leon, 12, Christopher, 11, and Thomas, 9 — Schiller has moved from town to town, frequently staying at women’s shelters.
The Manitoba warrant was from a June 16 incident when Schiller attempted to enter the United States at the Boissevain port of entry. Her children had been reported missing from Ontario, so naturally you do something, right?
But if the allegations are true, Schiller is nothing if not determined.
The morning after she was busted at the border, her children were no longer in care at a foster home in Forest, Man. They were quite gone and reported missing. Schiller’s vehicle was discovered the next day abandoned in Saskatchewan.
She had once more allegedly abducted the three boys and slipped into the Prairie abyss.
It emerged that Schiller had been released from custody because the warrant from Durham Region did not extend into Manitoba. One veteran detective called B.S.
“It makes no sense that they would release her,” the detective told the Toronto Sun at the time. “She should have been held in custody to be returned to Durham.”
“So they don’t know the law. If it’s a Criminal Code warrant, she is arrestable anywhere in Canada. If they say it wasn’t Canadawide, that’s just the return radius. It sounds like incompetence.”
Cops were tipped off last week that Schiller had holed up with her three children at a shelter in Fort Qu’Appelle. She was arrested for child abduction.
She was taken to Brandon, Man., in handcuffs and remains behind bars. Her three sons are now back in Ontario and are being reunited with their father.
The justice system, though, appeared from the get-go to be protecting Schiller at all costs. In January, Durham cops described the investigation as “complex,” but there was never an Amber Alert.
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Having spoken with Schiller at the time, I can say she has the stridency of a true believer — whatever that might be. She is being persecuted and you better damn well know it. Conversations are sprinkled with the word “lawsuit.”
The health food huckster is a hardcore parents’ rights activist opposed to a wide array of health and educational initiatives. Few people are happy with most school boards these days, but to Schiller it’s a “demonic war” and we are now romping in “Satan’s playground.”
On social media, she frequently cites the Armageddon-is-coming biblical tome Book of Revelations. For those not of the Christian faith, think Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse kind of stuff. A lot of burning and natural disasters.
Will the Canadian justice system give Schiller another free pass? If she gets bail, then we’ll know the answer.
X: @HunterTOSun