Greater Sudbury Police say they can find no evidence to back up a story of a missing girl in the Minnow Lake area.
This afternoon, police reported that officers from the Search and Rescue Unit and Tactical Unit completed the extensive ground search and K9 track of the area between Bancroft Drive and the rear of the Civic Memorial Cemetery, on the west side of Second Avenue.
Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division conducted "numerous interviews and with the assistance of Uniform Patrol Officers, the neighborhood and surrounding area has been canvassed multiple times."
Despite hours of searching and interviews, police say there's just "no evidence ... to corroborate the initial information that was provided to police."
In the initial report to police, GSPS said the missing child was described as being age 9 with blonde hair in a ponytail. She even had a name, "Ella," and was reportedly wearing a blue dress with butterflies on it.
However, a child matching that description has not been reported to police by a parent or guardian. No child matching the description was reported absent from local schools today either.
"We can confirm that a young child provided the information to an adult who contacted the Greater Sudbury Police Service," police said. "Due to the nature of the complaint, we felt it necessary to deploy significant resources in order to conduct a thorough investigation."
GSPS thanked the Ontario Provincial Police and the public for assisting in the search.
Updated May 29 at 11:10 a.m.
A ground search and canvas by Greater Sudbury Police in the Second Avenue area continues this morning after a report of a potentially-missing child Monday night.
That's despite the fact that police have no confirmation that such a missing child even exists.
At around 9:30 p.m. May 28, a community member contacted police regarding a potential missing child from the area of Birkdale Village on Second Avenue, a press release from police said.
The information provided to police was in relation to a young girl possibly named Ella. She was described as being around nine years old with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and that she was wearing a blue dress with butterflies on it.
It was reported that the girl was last seen with a man described as being in his 50s who had a long beard and a black and white dog.
Greater Sudbury Police said that because they take these matters very seriously and in an attempt to verify the initial information, its own officers, along with OPP officers, conducted a K9 track, an extensive ground search and deployed the OPP's Unmanned Aerial System (drone).
Checkpoints were also set up on major roadways in and around The Kingsway to inform motorists and obtain any information that could corroborate the information provided to police.
Through the investigation thus far, the information provided to police in relation to the man has not been validated.
A child meeting this description has not been reported missing to police by a parent or guardian and much of the information circulating social media has not been confirmed.
Greater Sudbury Police say they have been in contact with local school boards and none of them have reported a potential missing child.
This morning, officers will be canvassing the area and conducting another ground search. Police ask that anyone with information related to this potential incident contact them immediately.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Greater Sudbury Police at 705-675-9171 or Crime Stoppers at 705-222-TIPS (8477) or www.sudburycrimestoppers.com.
Updated May 29 at 9:45 a.m.
Despite social media rumours that a supposedly-missing child was never actually missing and was at home the whole time, Greater Sudbury Police say they're still actively investigating the allegation.
Sudbury.com first came across the rumour on the Valley East Today page. A post claimed a missing six-year-old girl was actually at home the whole time. According to the rumour, a nine-year-old girl went home and told her parents the girl went missing from a splash pad in the neighbourhood.
Police were called and a search began to locate the missing girl's parents, again according to the rumour. Once the parents were located, it was discovered the girl wasn't missing, but was at home in bed the whole time.
Sudbury.com asked Staff Sgt. Bob Norman about the social media rumours earlier this morning.
“That's news to me,” he said. “Of course I don't need tell you the lack of credibility of social media information, right?"
Despite the rumour, Norman said police are operating as though the child is missing and actively attempting both to find her and confirm the girl whether she is actually missing.
“All I can tell you at this time is that we're still actively investigating the allegation," Norman said. Contacted before 8 a.m., Norman said police were planning further deployment of officers to the area.
Check back to Sudbury.com for updates on this story.
Original story:
Greater Sudbury Police say they're investigating an unconfirmed report of a missing child out of "an abundance of caution."
Many people said on social media they were stopped overnight by police on The Kingsway, who said they were looking for a six-year-old girl who had last been seen at a splash pad in Minnow Lake Monday evening.
In a press release sent out a 1:55 a.m. Tuesday morning, police say they canvassed people, conducted a K9 search, co-ordinated a ground search with the service's search and rescue unit, conducted interviews and stopped motorists on the major arteries in and around The Kingsway to see if anyone had information that could help police corroborate this report.
This investigation is in its early stages and police cannot confirm that any child is in fact missing at this point, the press release said.
Police said they would continue to deploy specialists in the ground search overnight and would maintain police presence in the area.
“All I can tell you at this time is that we're still actively investigating the allegation,” said Staff Sgt. Bob Norman, speaking to Sudbury.com at around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“We're having a briefing at 0800 hours, and there will be further deployment to the area, I assume, shortly thereafter.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Greater Sudbury Police at 705-675-9171 or Crime Stoppers at 705-222-TIPS (8477) or www.sudburycrimestoppers.com.
Check back to Sudbury.com for updates to this story.
