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Not one more step

Enigmatic man's trek ends in Wrigley

Derek Neary
Northern News Services


Wrigley (Feb 07/03) - A man shrouded in mystery who was attempting to walk across North America has had his dream put on hold, if not vanquished completely.

NNSL Photo

Sgt. Brian Winters of the Fort Simpson RCMP displays a coat that Tiele Stowhase fashioned out of pelts. The man's sled and close to 300 pounds of supplies, which he had been pulling himself, are also in storage in the RCMP garage. Stowhase, who was attempting to walk across North America, was sent to Yellowknife, where he is now in custody. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo


Tiele Stowhase, living under the alias Tyler Aukan, was arrested by Fort Simpson RCMP while in Wrigley on last Friday.

Sgt. Brian Winters said an official with Immigration Canada urged police to investigate Stowhase after reading about him in the Jan. 27 edition of News/North.

The RCMP found him staying at the church. Winters said he was "friendly" and "very co-operative."

"He had no documentation on him, so they (the two attending RCMP officers) arrested him under the Immigration Act," he said. "They couldn't find any record of him at all."

The RCMP also seized a .22-calibre rifle and a loaded .44 magnum revolver that Stowhase was carrying, Winters noted. No charges had been laid as of Monday but the matter was still under investigation.

Stowhase is being detained at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre. Randy Gurlock, acting director for citizenship and immigration in Edmonton, said Stowhase has been entering Canada and the United States illegally for 12 to 15 years. Immigration officials are searching for his passport, according to Gurlock.

"It's a rather unusual story. We want to make sure we're thorough in that we ascertain exactly his identity and his status in the country," he said, adding that any criminal activity is unknown at this time.

Depending on the outcome, Stowhase could be deported.

Claiming to be 39 years old and from Germany, Stowhase had set out from the Bering Strait, Alaska., in 1998, bound for the east coast of North America.

Stowhase, who usually wears a homemade coat of various pelts and caribou-skin pants, is also of interest to the wildlife officers and U.S. authorities, said Winters.

"He never checks into any Customs (office) because he just walks through the woods," he said. "In this day and age you can't cross an international border carrying loaded firearms."

News of Stowhase's arrest came as a disappointment to people in Wrigley and Tulita.

He made a 45-minute wilderness survival presentation to students at Chief Julian Yendo school on Wednesday. He captured the children's imagination, principal Garry Payne said.

"The kids were quite interested in him. I must say he did quite a good job," said Payne. "You've got to admire a guy who can go out there and survive in the wilderness like that all by himself. I found him to be a very interesting character."

Benny Doctor, a resident of Tulita, said Stowhase spent 10 days in Tulita. He had also been in Norman Wells, Fort McPherson, Fort Good Hope and Tsiighetchic.

Doctor said Stowhase claimed to be a 15-year resident of Canada, and he didn't seem to be hiding from anyone.

"I was kind of shocked," Doctor said of Stowhase's arrest.

"We had supper together and talked. He's a really nice guy. You've got to meet him. Boy he has a lot of good stories ... the people fell in love with him in Tulita."