CANADA • Unidentified boy - 6-8 yo - Edmonton ALBERTA

Edmonton police have issued an Amber Alert for a boy seen walking Thursday afternoon with a suspicious man on 92B Avenue.

About six search and rescue workers are patrolling the area where the boy was last seen at about 2:15 p.m. local time.

He and the man were walking east from 68th Street.

The boy is white, six to eight years old, with lots of freckles on
his face and short sandy brown hair. He was wearing navy shorts and a
navy blue sleeveless, basketball-style jersey with an orange Transformer
character on it. He was also wearing a red and blue ball cap and sports
sandals.

A helicopter is also involved in the search.

The man is white, five feet seven inches tall and 40 to 45 years old,
with an average build and unusual, high-pitched voice. He is also
missing one or two teeth.

He was wearing a light blue and white plaid shirt, and blue jeans.

Police ask anyone with information to call 911.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/07/28/edm-amber-alert-boy.html

EDMONTON — Edmonton police issued an Amber Alert on Thursday
afternoon for a boy who was seen walking with a suspicious man in a
residential area near a daycare centre.
Police said the boy is between the
ages of six and eight and is wearing a red and blue baseball cap, a dark
blue sleeveless shirt with the word “Transformers” on the front, blue shorts and sandals.
The boy is Caucasian with lots of facial freckles and short sandy-brown hair.
Police acknowledged this is an unusual Amber Alert in that no child has yet been reported missing.
“We don’t have a parent attached to this file yet,” duty officer Regan James told CTV News.
“If that child is home or has come home and has that strange Transformer decal on their shirt and they
match the description and they would have been here, please, please call
the police. Certainly that would resolve a lot of our fears.”
The suspect is described as Caucasian with an average build, a high-pitched voice who may be missing a front
tooth and is between 40 and 45 years of age.
He has short brown wavy hair and was
wearing a white and blue plaid button up short sleeve shirt, light blue jeans and white running shoes.
James said staff at the Ottewell Daycare Centre said a man fitting that description has been seen in the
area for the last few days.
Civilian search and rescue crews were looking for the boy and police were conducting a door-to-door search.
“Time is our worst enemy here,” said James. “As time progresses and nothing occurs, we lose track of any
potential leads we might have.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1031961--amber-alert-issued-in-edmonton-for-boy-seen-walking-with-suspicious-man

An AMBER Alert has been issued in Edmonton after a suspicious male
was seen walking away with a boy between the ages of 6 and 8 years old
in the area of 58 Street and 93A Ave in Edmonton.
"An
individual who staff here at the park deemed as a little unusual, out of
place for the neighbourhood, was seen actually escorting the child away
from the area," said acting Insp. Regan James of the Edmonton Police
Service.
The pair was last seen around 2:00 on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the child had apparently arrived unaccompanied to
take part in one of the city's Green Shack playground programs. When he
was later led away by an unfamiliar man, staff became alarmed.
"Staff
doesn't believe there's any kind of relationship the child and this
adult, and that's what set off alarm bells for staff," James said.
The
boy has short brown hair with freckles, and was last seen wearing a red
and blue baseball cap, a dark blue sleeveless basketball style shirt
with Transformers on the front, blue shorts, and sandals. Green Shack
staff say the child was not a regular visitor, but had been seen before.
The
suspect is described as Caucasian, 5'7", 170lbs and between the age of
40-45 years old. He was wearing a white and blue plaid button up short
sleeve shirt, light blue jeans and white running shoes. He might be
missing a front tooth and has an unusually high-pitched voice.
"We're utilizing civilian search managers, Air 1, canine and out own patrol units as well," James said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 immediately.


http://www.globaltvbc.com/AMBER+Alert+issued+Edmonton/5175502/story.html

EDMONTON - What started as a citywide Amber Alert out of Ottewell
Community League park ended up as a tempest in a teapot Thursday - and
acting Insp. Regan James couldn't be happier as emergency crews "stood
down."

City police ended the Amber Alert after six hours, which tied up "massive" amounts of resources, James said.

The alert - issued without a report of a missing
child - started with a call from park staff about a suspicious male
leaving Ottewell park with a boy that appeared to be unrelated to him.

Something about the man's demeanour disturbed park staff, said James.

"Right around 2 p.m. we had a young fella - between
6 and 8 years of age - left the park with what was termed 'an unusual
male,'" he said in the early hours of the crisis.

"The park staff did speak to that adult - he seemed
a little odd. He just didn't seem like he belonged with the child ...
It just didn't look right to the staff here at the centre," he said.

As the evening wore on, the community responded to the alert with good news.

The lad was safe and sound, had been visiting a
male relative in the area, did belong with him, and was back safe and
sound at his own home in another part of the city by the time the news
broke.

"We got six perfect tips and they plotted things out for us," James said.

"The grandma had seen the Amber Alert - she just didn't put two and two together, unfortunately," James said.

Buoyed by the good news, emergency responders left in a much lighter mood.

James estimated there were 20 search and rescue
workers, five or six K-9 handlers, 50 or so members of the police force,
and a number of undercover officers.

Asked if the outcome might make people reluctant to file reports, James applauded the call that turned out to be unfounded.

"It WAS real, it was an appropriate response," he said. "I'm perfectly fine with the way the whole day went."

After everyone left, a rainbow erupted in the sunset, and Bob Hutchison was pleased with the outcome.

President of the Ottewell Community League, he said staff did the right thing by alerting police of their concerns.

"You're always telling them, if there's a problem, phone the police - don't second-guess yourself," he said.

Hutchison said the idea of a sign-in sheet sounds
good but can be tough to get compliance from participants, especially
with Freedom of Information and Privacy act considerations.

Besides, he said, the summer program - which can draw 200 youngsters on a hot day - is no substitute for parental supervision.

"It's a drop-in, not a drop-off," he said. "It's not a babysitting service, that's for sure."


http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/29/missing-alberta-boy-found-safe-at-home