Glenn Field, who was last seen in April 2019 while living in camp with his three German Shepard dogs, has officially been declared dead.
The 62-year-old was last seen by a pilot flying over his campsite on the west side of Rolfe Lake, about 150 kilometers from Yellowknife.
On April 8, a ‘Declaration of Death’ was approved in Yellowknife’s Territorial Court, which makes Glenn Field officially deceased.
The declaration was based on a affidavit Field’s brother, Wayne Field, submitted to the court on Feb. 16.
“It is my belief, given the amount of time that has passed since my brother Glenn Harold Field had last been spotted,” wrote Wayne in the affidavit. “that he is unfortunately deceased,”
Wayne assumes his brother died somewhere in early to mid 2019, and the court dated his death in May 2019.
Usually, a court in Canada will approve a ‘Declaration of Death’ in the instance a person has been missing for seven years, or if they disappeared in “circumstances of peril” including a life-threatening accident.
It is Wayne’s belief that Glenn died when he capsized while attempting to make his way to Great Slave Lake in a canoe with his dogs.
Court documents showed Glenn Field moved to Yellowknife in 2018 where he applied for resident status that indicated he was making the NWT his permanent home.
Wayne described his brother as a loner who lived in solitude but was liked by those he interacted with.
Glenn was talented bushman; “very independent and self-sufficient” according to Wayne, however he said he had reservations about his brother living on the land through harsh winters.
SEE: Still no sign of missing 63-year-old man
In the 1980s, Glenn lost three toes to frostbite and ran out of supplies while while living in the Coppermine River area.
Despite this, he was committed to life isolated on the land.
The RCMP began searching for Glenn in the spring of 2019, and performed an aerial search in Oct. 2019. RCMP ended the search after about a year.
At the time he went missing, Glenn was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall (178 cm) and weighing 169 pounds (77 kg) with grey hair and blue or grey eyes with glaucoma. One toe was missing from his left foot, two from his right.
In his possession was grey canoe, axe, an Iridium satellite phone, a McPherson tent, a .308 rifle and some basic supplies, according to a press release by the RCMP at the time he went missing.
“The process for having someone declared deceased does not typically involve the police in any aspect,” said Mike Lewis from Yellowknife’s RCMP detachment.
“For our purposes, Mr. Field is still considered a missing person until he is located or his remains are found.”
Anyone with information on a missing person is asked to contact the NT RCMP Major Crimes Unit at RCMP at 867-669-1111 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.