An Edmonton teenager who was first reported missing more than a week ago was found safe in Oregon on Saturday, police said.
A 41-year-old Oregon man has been arrested. The Edmonton Police Service says it will charge him with child enticement under the Criminal Code of Canada, although more charges may be laid as the investigation progresses, including charges from other police agencies, said Insp. Brent Dalside of the EPS Major Crimes Unit during a press conference Saturday morning.
“This has been an intensive investigation from the beginning,” Dalseide said.
“This is a happy ending to an investigation that has been exhaustive and intensive; very hard week for family and friends also not knowing where [the child] was.”
Edmonton police partner with multiple police agencies, including the US Customs and Border Patrol, Gladstone (Oregon) Police, Oregon City Police and the FBI.
Dahlseide described the investigation as unique in that the EPS does not often have to coordinate with police forces outside the province, let alone across international borders.
The 13-year-old girl rode the bus to school on June 24 but was reported missing after her family learned she had missed class and failed to return home that afternoon.
Family and friends pressed to find her or any information on her whereabouts in the days that followed, scouring the neighborhood, forming a Facebook group and posting on social media, handing out pamphlets and putting the child’s name and face on billboards.
The girl is listed as missing in the Canadian Police Information Centre, a national database shared between Canadian law enforcement agencies, and the Child Search Network, a national app created by the Missing Children Society of Canada, Dalseide said.
However, police have not issued a warning for Amber.
According to the Alberta government website, police can only activate an Amber Alert if four criteria are met:
- is a kidnapped child or an adult with a proven disability
- the person is in danger of serious injury or death
- there is sufficient descriptive information so that the public can identify the person, the abductor or the mode of transportation
- there is a reasonable expectation that either the person who has been abducted can be returned or that the abductor can be apprehended.
Initially, police had no evidence to suggest the teenager was with anyone else, said Staff Sgt. James Vanderland, of the EPS Historical Crimes Unit, in a news release Saturday.
Edmonton police eventually gathered enough information to begin issuing an Amber Alert. But then they learned the girl was out of the country, which made it no longer feasible since she was out of the jurisdiction.
After police were notified that the man had crossed the border, Edmonton police began coordinating with U.S. law enforcement in case the man returned to Oregon, Dalseide said. The man lived near Portland, Oregon, but Dalside was unsure of his citizenship status.
The girl is at Children’s Hospital in Oregon for a precautionary evaluation, police said.
Her family is currently flying to Oregon to bring her home.
“My heart is full of happiness and love. We found our baby!” the girl’s father wrote on Facebook. CBC News is not naming the father to protect the child’s identity as a minor.
“Thank you all for your efforts. We will always be grateful to all of you! Love you!”
Meanwhile, police still face many unknowns surrounding the case.
At this point, police believe the Oregon man was in Edmonton, but they’re not sure what his intentions were in bringing the girl to the U.S., Dalseide said.
Police confirmed the man and girl had been in contact through a social media platform — Dahlseide wasn’t sure which — but were unsure how long they had been in touch. Police also don’t know how the two got in touch in person.
The child luring charge is the only one to be laid for now because Edmonton police believe it can be supported based on the online story, Dalseide explained.
He does not know what charges may be brought by US law enforcement.
Police also do not know how the girl ended up 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 routes if they traveled separately — took to to reach the US, – Dalseide said.
So far, police believe the man was around Mission, British Columbia for about three to four days after the girl disappeared, he said, but police aren’t sure if the girl was with him at the time.
EPS will contact the local RCMP department at the mission to try to locate potential witnesses, he added.
“We don’t know if there were any other stops that we can talk to for sure at this time,” Dalseide said.
The man and the girl were found together in the US, he added.
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