Willie hasn’t been seen since Feb. 2
On Thursday morning, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) held a press conference in Wiarton, Ontario, to announce the launch of a search for pop culture icon ‘Wiarton Willie.’ The RCMP say that Willie has defrauded millions of Canadians into thinking there would be an early spring and is wanted on felony charges.
Wiarton, a town of about 2,000 people on the Bruce Peninsula in Western Ontario, has been home to Willie since the 1980s. Each Groundhog Day, celebrated on Feb. 2, it is tradition that he predicts whether there will be an early spring or six more weeks of winter based upon the science of shadow-seeing. This year, he predicted an early spring when he was unable to see his shadow.
But February has been anything but an early spring, with repeated dumps of snow wreaking havoc on even the best laid travel plans, collapsing parking garages, and deflating sports domes.
Sources, who are not being identified for fear of having their burrows raided, told the Tomato that Willie was acting “cagey” following his prediction on Feb. 2. They allege that Willie snuck onto a bus bound for the American border after exiting the event, donning a disguise consisting of a fake moustache, glasses, and a Canada Goose parka.
The RCMP quietly began operations to sniff out Willie in the weeks leading up to the official announcement and have now officially enlisted the help of the USA’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The collaboration between the two federal agencies was authorized in a rare moment of unity between Canada and the US. On X (Twitter), senior advisor to the President of the United States Elon Musk wrote that the need for the operation became apparent to him right away, alleging that the network of tunnels was being used for underground drug smuggling operations.
A senior Canadian government official told the Tomato that the holdup for the search to begin was due disagreements between the Ontario government and the federal government over whether Willie should be charged under provincial or federal statutes.
In the early hours of Feb. 15, FBI agents conducted a no-knock raid on Punxsutawney Phil — a known associate of Willie — in northwestern Pennsylvania, after receiving a tip that Phil and Willie had spent Valentine’s Day together.
The raid was unsuccessful, though the FBI did find a fake passport sporting the name “Walkerton William” and chewed-up Farmer’s Almanacs in the extensive network of tunnels around Phil’s burrow. Phil was later charged with harbouring an international fugitive by the FBI.
“Willie’s trail has turned cold,” said an RCMP spokesperson at the press conference Thursday. “We believe he may have gone deeper underground — literally,” citing a network of tunnels the agencies have uncovered in Ontario and the northeastern US.
“He can’t hide forever,” continued the spokesperson. “Sooner or later, every groundhog finds its shadow.”
