Drumheller RCMP has concluded their investigation into reports of attempted child abductions in the village of Carbon late last month and want to reassure parents in the community they believe there is no further threat.
Reports of three Carbon youth being approached and lured by two men in a vehicle were made to RCMP on June 29. After investigating and interviewing a male individual who was positively identified by RCMP, police feel the suspect holds no threat to the community and the reports may have resulted from both fabrication and fear from the three youths involved.
Drumheller RCMP Constable Jason Gerard tracked down the individual and the suspect vehicle, but after interviewing him, felt the individual was incapable of the crime due to a mental illness related to an accident.
“Judging from the stories from the three youths involved the stories and descriptions of the male didn’t fit in. The descriptions range all around,” said Cst. Gerard.
Cst. Gerard said the man lives just outside of Carbon and is frequently in town.
“I guess this person usually sits in town and uses the WiFi in one area of town, and he’s one of those people that park in town and who people look at and think there’s something weird about him. Stories can get blown out of proportion.”
Reports of two males in a van luring children to their vehicle were posted on Facebook shortly after it was reported to police, causing a sense of worry throughout both the Carbon and Drumheller communities.
“Within an hour it was already on Facebook. On social media, people hear something and they plop it on without going into facts. I’ve been through a child abduction case in Sterling a couple years ago that fit the same, and you had people on Facebook popping up, and at the end of the investigation we found out it was an autistic boy who made up everything and people started coming to their own conclusions,” said Cst. Gerard.