Anyone travelling in Alberta or going to recreational areas, visiting cabins or remote areas were being encouraged over the weekend to check for a missing B.C. boy and a man police suspect was involved in his disappearance.
While Kienan Hebert, 3, was returned to his Sparwood, B.C. home Sunday – four days after he went missing, police were still looking yesterday for Randall Peter Hopley, 46.
Elk Valley, B.C. RCMP named Hopley in an Amber Alert issued last Wednesday after the tot was reported missing earlier in the morning.
“Amber Alert is only one part of an extensive investigation,” said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk, the southeast and north district B.C. senior media relations officer. “Information that Kienan was missing was provided to the public and media, and as our search and investigation continued and we were able to meet the minimum requirements, the Amber Alert was issued as well.”
A formal Alberta Amber Alert was not activated, but law enforcement agencies in all areas of the province were advised of the investigation and of descriptions of Hebert, Hopley, and Hopley's brown 1987 Toyota Camry, according to RCMP.
On Friday, Alberta RCMP increased the coverage of the information in an effort to get details out to anyone who may be travelling over the weekend.
Alberta RCMP posted an information alert on the Alberta Emergency Alert website as well as on Facebook and had the opportunity to use electronic signs on Hwy. 2 near Red Deer and Airdrie to alert the public.
Didsbury RCMP Cpl. Warren Wright said the detachment was made aware through numerous means of the Amber Alert, descriptions of the missing boy, Hopley, and Hopley's vehicle.
“Unless we've got a tip that the guy is in the area, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Wright said.
RCMP did not release all the Alberta locations where investigators followed leads or tips to, although an Olds resident said his family's property in the Crowsnest Pass was searched last Thursday.
Hopley is scheduled to appear in court next week on charges he trespassed and broke into the family's Crowsnest Pass property over a year ago.
The Sparwood man's criminal record includes conviction of a sexual offence in 1985.
An early Sunday morning 911 call alerted police to Hebert's location at the vacant family home in Sparwood which had been cordoned off when the investigation began.
The three-year-old's parents and siblings were reportedly staying nearby with friends.
While the Amber Alert was stood down after Hebert was located safe, B.C. RCMP said efforts were continuing to apprehend Hopley.
He is described as Caucasian and as having brown hair and hazel eyes, with a birthmark along his hairline.
Police are also searching for Hopley's 1987 Toyota Camry with B.C. licence plate 098 RAL.
