An eight-year-old girl who went missing from Calgary early yesterday morning (Wednesday) was located in Abbotsford late yesterday afternoon.
The Calgary Police Service (CPS) believes the girl was taken by her 19-year-old brother from the Greenview neighbourhood sometime in the early-morning hours. The child’s family woke up to find the girl, her brother and the family vehicle all missing, and they contacted police at about 5:30 a.m.
CPS learned that the suspect was driving west through B.C., and local RCMP were asked for assistance.
The family’s vehicle was located driving on Highway 1 just outside of Hope.
Police with the Upper Fraser Valley regional detachment followed the vehicle and stopped it in Abbotsford – on Highway 1 near Clearbrook Road – once it was safe to do so, with the assistance of the Abbotsford Police Department.
The missing girl and her older brother were taken into custody without incident. The girl had not been harmed.
The brother has now been charged with one count of abducting a child under the age of 14. Police say at this time they do not know what motivation was behind the incident.
The father of the girl was flown out to be reunited with his daughter on a flight arranged by the Missing Children Society of Canada, in partnership with WestJet.
The brother will be brought back to Alberta by police later this week.
An amber alert was nearly issued in this case. However, the child was located before investigators were able to determine whether the case met the criteria for one.