A teenage girl from Edmonton who was first reported missing a week ago was found safe in the state of Oregon on Saturday, police say.
A 41-year-old man has been arrested from Oregon. The Edmonton Police Service say they will charge him with child luring under the Canadian Criminal Code, although more charges may be brought as the investigation progresses, including charges from other police agencies, the inspector said. Brent Dahlside of EPS’s Major Crime Branch during a news conference Saturday morning.
“It was a thorough investigation from the start,” Dahlseid said.
“It’s a happy ending to an investigation that was exhaustive and thorough; a very heavy week for family and friends, as well as, not knowing where. [the child] was.”
Edmonton Police partnered with a number of police agencies, including the US Customs and Border Patrol, Gladstone Police (Oregon), Oregon City Police, and the FBI.
Dahlseid described the investigation as unique in that EPS often does not have to coordinate with police forces outside the province, far across international borders.
The 13-year-old girl went to school on June 24 in a bus, but was reported missing after her family learned that she did not attend class and did not return home that afternoon.
Family and friends pushed to find him, or any information about his whereabouts, in the days that followed, by searching the neighborhood, creating a Facebook group and posting on social media, handing out pamphlets and the name of the child. And put the face on the hoarding.
Dahlseid said the girl was listed as missing in the Child Search Network, a national database shared between Canada’s Police Information Center, a national database shared between Canadian law enforcement, and the Missing Children Society of Canada.
However, the police did not issue an Amber Alert.
According to the Alberta Government website, police can activate an Amber Alert only if four criteria are met:
- A child, or an adult with a proven disability, has been kidnapped
- the person is at risk of serious harm or death
- have sufficient descriptive information so that the public can identify the person, the abductor or the means of transport
- There is a reasonable expectation that either the person who was kidnapped can be returned, or the kidnapper can be caught.
The staff sergeant said that initially, the police did not have evidence that the teenager was with anyone else. James Vanderland of the Historical Crimes Section of EPS in a news release Saturday.
Eventually, Edmonton Police gathered enough information to begin drafting an Amber Alert. But then they came to know that the girl was out of the country, making it not possible as she was out of jurisdiction.
Once police were notified that the man had crossed the border, Edmonton police began coordinating with US law enforcement if the man returned to Oregon, Dahlseid said. The man lived near Portland, Ore., but Dahlseed was unsure of his citizenship status.
Police said the girl was taken to Children’s Hospital in Oregon for a precautionary check-up.
Her family is currently flying to Oregon to bring her home.
“My heart is full of joy and love. We found our baby!” The girl’s father wrote on Facebook. Nation World News is not taking the father’s name to protect the child’s identity as a minor.
“Thank you all for your efforts. We will be forever grateful to you all! We love you!”
Meanwhile, the police is still confronted with many unknown people regarding the case.
At this point, police believe the Oregon man was in Edmonton, but they’re not sure what his intention was in bringing the girl to America, Dahlseid said.
Police confirmed that the man and girl had been in touch via a social media platform – Dahleseed was unsure of which one – but they are unsure how long they had been in touch. The police also do not know how the two interacted personally.
Dahlseed explained that the charge of child wooing has yet to be filed because Edmonton police believe it could be backed up based on online history.
He doesn’t know what US law enforcement might charge.
The police also do not know how the girl got injured from across the border.
Edmonton Police, with the help of the FBI, are working to map the route the Oregon man took to get to Edmonton, as well as the route he and the girl – or the route, if they travel separately. used to — travel to America, Dahlseid said.
He said that so far the police believe the man was around Mission, BC for about three to four days after the girl went missing, but police are not sure whether the girl was with him at the time. .
He added that the EPS will contact the local RCMP contingent in the mission to trace any potential witnesses.
“We don’t know if there was any other stop that we can talk to with assurance at this time,” Dahlseid said.
He said that the boy and the girl were found together in America.
