Major Update on Mom Who Abducted Three Sons, Vanished into Canadian Woods

A father is tirelessly searching for his three sons who vanished from Ontario in November, expressing concerns local police missed key opportunities to help find his children.

His ex-wife, 55-year-old Astrid Schiller is accused of abducting her own children and has been on the run for months. The mother was reported missing along with her three boys – Leon, 12, Christopher, 11, and Thomas, 9 in December.

The children’s father told Newsweek he was only minutes away from seeing his sons for the first time in months when Schiller abducted them from school.

On November 17, 2023, he was on his way to pick up his children after spending much of the year without access due to an abuse claim. A judge had dismissed the claim a few days earlier, and the court had granted them 50/50 custody.

“I called the school to say ‘Hey I’m on my way, I have a fresh court order in hand’. Somebody warned her and she came probably 20 minutes prior to my arrival. I was on my way, and she took the kids and off she went.”

The police issued an arrest warrant for the mother on January 24, on three counts of parental abduction and one count of disobeying a court order.

Where Are Astrid Schiller and the Boys?

After months with few sightings, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced in June the group was spotted multiple times, and the mother was arrested but later released.

Now the search continues for the mom and boys who are believed to be camping in parks around Saskatchewan province.

Newsweek reached out to the Saskatchewan police, who confirmed they are assisting in the search for the group.

RCMP had a breakthrough in its search for Schiller after getting a report at 2 a.m. on June 16 that she was trying to cross the border at Boissevain into the U.S. during the tail end of a tornado.

Officers detained the mother and took the children into care in Forrest, Manitoba, but they released her soon after, stating the arrest warrant issued in Ontario didn’t extend into the other province.

The father said RCMP contacted authorities in Ontario’s Durham region, informed them Schiller was in custody, and asked if they wanted to retrieve her. They declined due to the costs involved.

They also asked Durham Regional Police if they wanted to extend the warrant beyond Ontario and make it Canada-wide.

“By law they can hold Astrid for six to seven days while the police force would go to a judge and get the warrant extended, but their answer was no,” the father said.

The father believes Durham police had the opportunity to resolve the situation earlier and bring his boys home but failed to act.

After her release, Astrid searched for the foster home in Manitoba where the boys were supposed to spend the night. Manitoba’s Child and Family Services has a policy of not taking cell phones and electronics from children in their care, leading the father to believe Astrid might have been able to track his oldest son to the foster home.

Police received information the children were no longer at the care home and suspected Schiller had taken them again in the early hours of June 17.

The father said police attempted to review camera footage around the foster home, but many cameras were down due to tornado-related power outages. Despite searching the area, police did not find the boys.

“They were searching with expensive gear – thermal and night vision gear, but no sign. Nothing,” the father said. “They [the police] concluded very fast that the kids had a ride out.”

RCMP said the group was spotted in Assiniboia before traveling to Pine Cree Regional Park in Saskatchewan on June 19 – the last time the father knew the whereabouts of his children.

Paul Manaigre of RCMP told Newsweek authorities found an abandoned vehicle at the park on June 21. The white 2018 Mercedes GLC was believed to belong to Schiller, but there was again no sign of her or the boys.

Who is Astrid Schiller?

Schiller has ties to a far-right anti-LGBTQ+ group, Stand4Thee, which is focused on fringe theories related to healthcare and education.

The group has been involved with the so-called Freedom Convoy in 2022, in which hundreds of vehicles in Canada protested COVID-19 restrictions in a convoy that converged on Ottawa and a so-called Save the Children Convoy in 2023, Press Progress reported in January.

Footage available from the group’s Rumble account shows Schiller participating on a Zoom call in October 2023, the site reported.

The group opposes LBGTQ+ rights and participants discussed methods to oppose Sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) inclusive schools.

One of the leaders of Stand4Thee, Rebecca Sheppard, shared a “notice of liability” letter on the call for Schiller’s son Leon.

The letter was directed to his school and stated that her child “will not engage in any discussions regarding sexual orientation or gender ideology” and will “not answer any questions regarding his gender nor his sexual identity to anyone at any time with no exceptions.”

The letter also stated Schiller would pursue legal action against the school for $25,000 in damages over alleged “discrimination, breach of duty, negligence and criminal exploitation.”

Schiller said on the call she has had multiple confrontations with school officials regarding an “intimate” questionnaire and she claimed her son felt “forced” to fill out the questionnaire and came home “extremely disturbed”.

Schiller laughed as she described a “hilarious” confrontation with the school principal.

“The principal told me that this questionnaire is now in the file of my son, in the school file, and I thought: ‘Excuse me?’ This is nothing official, I did not give my consent, how do you dare. What?”, Schiller said on the Zoom call.

She also complained about her child learning about pronouns in a music class.

‘Stuck in the middle’

Since June, the father of the three boys has heard very little from police entities.

“They [the police] basically handed over the whole investigation to the RCMP,” he said. “But, the last time I heard from the RCMP’s side, that’s not true. I’m really concerned it’s stuck in the middle.”

Newsweek reached out to RCMP and they said, “There are no new updates from the Manitoba RCMP as we believe they are no longer in this province. We have issued a Warrant of Arrest out for Astrid based out of Manitoba for the abduction of the children from the care home in Forrest, Manitoba.”

About three weeks ago, the father stated Durham Regional Police finally issued a Canada-wide alert for the three boys. Newsweek reached out to confirm.

“A Canada-wide warrant is in place,” Durham Regional Police told Newsweek. “At this time we have no substantiated information that we can share publicly about potential whereabouts and the RCMP have carriage of this investigation.”

What’s Next

The father is taking action himself, determined to reunite with his three boys as soon as possible.

“I want to make sure that the boys know that they’re absolutely loved and missed by their dad, their grandparents, their uncle,” the father said.

He has partnered with the non-profit organization, Canadian Centre for Child Protection, to launch billboard campaigns across the county.

He hopes someone will see the billboard and recognize Schiller or the three boys when they are on the run again.

Newsweek reached out to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, however, they have not yet responded.

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