Misinformation spread through social media about an alleged attempted abduction that Sundre RCMP officers found to be untrue caused chaos in town last week.
People were even accusing others of being a suspect who was found to be non-existent.
“All of a sudden we were getting calls about people in town here and they were being accused of being this person. And it wasn't true at all. So you have to be very careful going around and accusing people,” said Sundre RCMP Cpl. Ryan Hodge.
A post on the “Sundre and area buy and sell” Facebook page on Oct. 22 at 8:46 p.m. by a concerned parent attracted 126 comments from people in the community.
“Creeper alert. A man in an older red rusty truck, bushy eyebrows, bald, pointy nose and brown eyes, threatened and tried to abduct my oldest daughter tonight. If you see this vehicle or creepy SOB please call the police right away. Thank you,” reads the post with the name Richard VanAlstyne attached to it.
It didn't take long before the word spread around town. Hodge said there was one complaint about the incident itself, but that there were also reports of suspicious red rusty trucks around town as well as several tips from the public.
“Based on the evidence we had from our complainant, we then started trying to gather more information about it,” explained Hodge. “We ended up finding out, through some video surveillance and speaking with other witnesses, that some of the things our alleged victim was telling us weren't true. So then we dug into it more and more and found out that this event hadn't happened at all.”
“We don't believe there is a guy in a red truck at all.”
The alleged victim is a 12-year-old female and attends River Valley School (RVS). Members of the RCMP and the girl's parents informed both of the schools of what was going on. The alleged incident was said to take place near Sundre High School.
“Police would also like to remind the public that they need to be cautious of what information is placed on social media sites such as Facebook,” said Hodge. “The spread of misinformation or only a portion of the actual events can cause fear and panic in the community and potentially be harmful to criminal investigations.”
He said it was getting to the point where people were accusing RCMP officers, on the Facebook post, of doing things they were not.
“We spent a lot of time on this. So that was one aspect of it. (There) was a lot of negative criticism that wasn't warranted,” he said.
“There's somewhat of a vigilante attitude I found through some of that, that they were going to deal with it themselves. Well, they didn't know the truth. They didn't know all the facts that were involved in that case. So it can be a very slippery slope where people take the law into their own hands and they don't understand what's actually happening.”
Police said administration officials at both of the schools assisted in the investigation.
“We work with partners in the RCMP and the health system and child protection system and we communicate regularly about issues related to student safety,” said Rod MacLean, principal at RVS. “We're always sharing information we have, they share information they have, and in the end we trust the experts. We take our lead from the RCMP in matters like this. They tell us if they feel there is a threat or isn't and we act accordingly.”
There will be no criminal charge of public mischief laid in the investigation, according to Hodge.
“The public is reminded to remain vigilant in watching for suspicious persons in and around Sundre and especially where children are frequently found.”
