RCMP say criteria was not met for Amber Alert after missing children were found in New Brunswick

Two missing children were safely located with their father in New Brunswick, but why didn’t police initiate an amber alert to the public? Alex Karpa reports.

By Alex Karpa

The search for two missing children, who did not return home to their mother after being with their dad, has ended after the young kids were found safe.

On Tuesday afternoon, Manitoba RCMP said the kids and their father, who is from Hartney, Man., were safely located — not in their hometown — but 3,300 kilometres away, in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

“Now the investigation will pivot to look at what was the motivation, what happened, should there be charges, etc., so that’s the next step,” said Tara Seel, RCMP Manitoba Media Relations Officer.

The children were last seen on Sept. 8, leaving their school, and were found five days later in Eastern Canada. Some are wondering why an amber alert was not issued to alert the public.

The RCMP says issuing an amber alert must fall under certain criteria.

“One is that the children were under 18, we met that criteria. The second is the investigators believe through investigation that the children are in imminent danger. That criteria was not met. We didn’t believe dad was going to hurt them,” said Seel.

“We need to make sure that when an amber alert is issued, that it is getting the attention it deserves for children that are in imminent danger.”

Amber Pick, CEO of Missing Children Society of Canada, says there is information that the police will have during an investigation that determines how and when they share information on the case.

“There’s always a question and a conversation around when police activate an amber alert, and that conversation goes both ways,” explained Pick.

“Sometimes, they don’t immediately activate an alert, because it makes sense not to have the information shared immediately because that could cause actions that could hurt the children. Sometimes, they put out information through the community not through an amber alert because they determined through their investigation that the children are not in imminent danger.”

In this particular case, the children were safely located, but Pick says there are many children across Canada who are still missing.

MSCS has an app called rescue, which shows a photo and description of every child across each province and territory that has not been found.

“Be ready to help, be ready to receive information, do that through the rescue app. Together, we can really make a difference as it relates to protecting our children.”

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