Parents in Stratmore are having important talks with their children as local police continue to search for two men who they say abducted a young girl Tuesday afternoon in the southern city of Alberta.
The RCMP says the child was forced into a white four-door truck while waiting in the area to return to his school bus. She was then taken to a nearby home, where she escaped.
The girl was found safely two hours later and taken to Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, but the incident has caused serious concern among community members.
Chandra Perman has five young daughters and a son of her own and was shocked to learn the news.
“It was certainly disturbing to hear that something like this had happened in our city,” she said.
“We’ve already had a lot of conversations with our girls about understanding safety and staying away from vehicles that could approach them, always going to safety if they’re uncomfortable.”
Other mothers, such as Cynthia Moore, added that raising awareness was essential to stop the kidnapping attempt.
“It’s horrible, absolutely horrible.” Said Moore.
“My children are so young that I definitely talked to them last night about a ‘weirder danger.’ This is a real thing and I think people may feel a little more secure in a small community, but as parents we definitely need to talk to our children. ”
Kidnappings are scary situations, but Amanda Pick, chief executive of the Canadian Society for Missing Children, says it’s a great opportunity for parents to sit down with their children.
“Play roles with your child and ask him ‘what would you do’ and then really instruct your child to scream, to be loud, to try to escape. “I think kids think that sometimes saying ‘no’ to an adult isn’t a natural answer for them, but they need to know to trust their instincts,” Pick said.
And as soon as they don’t feel safe, that they have the ability to say no, and that I think another really good thing that kids can understand or parents can explain is that adults want information from adults, you know, if an adult asks a child for guidance or you know something like that, it’s not appropriate. “
Pick adds that parents also need to know who their children’s friends are and take their children into the community to make sure they know where safe places are.
DESCRIPTION OF SUSPECT STRATHMORE RCMP IMPLEMENTATION
The RCMP on Thursday released descriptions of two suspects involved in the abduction of a young girl in the southern city of Alberta earlier this week.
According to police, both are described as fair-skinned and clean-shaven.
The first suspect had long black hair and was wearing a black tuxedo and a black Zoo York sweater.
The second suspect was wearing a white shirt and gray sweatpants.
The suspect vehicle is described as a white four-door pickup truck with a gray interior.
Sgt. Mark Vilgosch says the investigation is ongoing and his team will not leave a stone unturned.
“At this point, we are tracking every clue we can find. “The area where the incident took place has been searched by our investigators and we continue to use special resources for this investigation,” he said.
“We have also used the help of our police service dogs to search areas and plan to continue our investigation until we hope to reach a successful conclusion.”
Vielgos notes that the exact location of the incident will not be made public yet, so as not to compromise the investigation.
He added that the incident itself was very rare and said it was a good reminder for the public to be wary of suspicious activity.
“We live in a safe rural community and we strive to maintain the safety of our community, so we need to take care of each other and our young people in Strathmore in particular,” Vielgos said.
“It is important for parents to make sure that their children have a smart device to keep it with them, to make sure that your children know how to call their parents, pre-set calls, and 911 if necessary and obviously don’t talk to strangers. “
STRATMOR CITY OFFERS SUPPORT FOR VICTIM’S FAMILY
Stratmore Mayor Pat Fule says the community is shocked by what happened, but said the girl who was abducted was now safe.
“The city is ready to help the family and offer all kinds of support services that we can provide, and we are also really confident in our local RCMP, they have done a great job over the years here and we know that there will be more that question, “Fule said
“I think the people of Strathmore are usually really good at being aware of what’s going on and keeping track of things, but it’s a definite concern for the whole community and I’m sure people will be vigilant as we move forward. ”
According to statistics provided by the National Center for Missing Persons and Unidentified RCMP Remains, in 2021 there were zero kidnappings of strangers in Alberta and 18 kidnappings of strangers across Canada.
The Strathmore incident is extremely rare, but the recent spread of abductions in Alberta has created a worrying mood in smaller communities.
In addition to the Stratmore incident, the Cochrane RCMP is investigating reports of an 11-year-old girl who managed to escape an attempt to seduce on Monday.
Another incident in Cardston, Alta. on May 17, an attempt was made to abduct a 25-year-old woman who was forced into her car by a man.
Anyone with information about a kidnapping incident should contact local police, the RCMP or give anonymous advice through Crime Stoppers.
Stratmore is about 53 kilometers east of Calgary.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Strathmore RCMP on 403-934-3968 or Crime Stoppers on 1-800-222-8477.
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