The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG–Officials with an organization that helps asylum-seekers say their biggest concern has been that someone could die while trying to illegally cross into Canada.
Now a woman, who American officials say may have been trying to reach Manitoba on foot from the U.S., has been found dead in a remote part of northwestern Minnesota.
“This has been our greatest fear all along, is that people are risking their lives to make this crossing,” said Maj. Rob Kerr with the Salvation Army in Winnipeg.
“It’s surprising now that it’s happened at this point in time, at the end of May,” he noted.
“It was our greatest fear back in February, March when it was so cold out.
“We were greatly worried that people were going to end up injured or hurt or lose their lives making this crossing,” Kerr added.
The Kittson County sheriff’s office said the body of Mavis Otuteye, 57, was found Friday in a field close to the Canadian border near the Minnesota town of Noyes.
Authorities believe Otuteye was a citizen of Ghana in western Africa.
Chief deputy Matt Vig told WDAZ-TV that Otuteye was reported missing a day earlier and likely was heading to Canada on foot to try to reunite with her daughter.
He said Otuteye had been living in Delaware for the last several years.
Final autopsy results were pending, but Vig said preliminary results indicate she died of hypothermia.
The officer said part of her body was in a shallow pool of water in a drainage ditch.
Kerr noted the temperatures did not dip below freezing in the area.
He added the attempt shows the desperation of some people trying to get to Canada.
