Mounties in Red Deer have a 56-year-old man in custody and he is awaiting charges of kidnapping and sexual assault after a 16-year-old girl was found in a shopping centre in that city Saturday, two days after she was reported missing.
Police say they made the arrest yesterday afternoon after the suspect was seen driving his vehicle in Red Deer.
The man’s vehicle was seized by police for examination and investigators are expected to formally charge the man sometime today, say Mounties.
The teen was found at the Bower Place Shopping Centre Saturday night, roughly 46 hours after she was reported missing.
Mounties say the victim’s family called police Thursday night after she drove to a nearby convenience store to buy some juice and never returned.
Police say the girl’s truck was found outside her family’s home with the keys still in the ignition, but her purse and mobile phone were gone.
The girl is in hospital recovering from “some injuries,” and trauma from the abduction, said Mounties.
“It was like a bad dream,” said the girl’s mother in a press conference yesterday. “She feels unsafe in her own home.”
The girl’s father said she managed to get away from her abductor and quickly called home from the shopping centre.
