A Kingston mother is incredibly relieved to have her 14-year-old daughter back home after she was reported missing on Aug. 8.
For nearly a week, Kassandra Williamson was anxious about her daughter Klaira’s safety and who she might be with, but everything changed when she received a call from Kingston Police on Aug. 14.
“They called and said we have good news. It was Kingston Police, and I didn’t think she was found. I thought they were just going to give me an update on what was going on. She said they have her,” recalled Williamson.
Police informed her that Klaira had been located by Peel Regional Police along with a 23-year-old man who has now been arrested and charged.
Authorities managed to find Klaira after tracing the Uber driver who took her to Toronto. They confirmed to police that the passenger was indeed Klaira, which led them to provide the address where she was dropped off.
“We did figure that it was not a great situation, but it could have been a lot worse. We’re very fortunate that she was found and that she’s home now and she’s safe,” said Williamson, noting that while her daughter seems physically okay, she’s still shaken up from the experience.
“She did leave on her own, but it is my belief that this male had been filling her brain full of things and once she got there, she wasn’t allowed to use a phone that didn’t have a VPN. He apparently had three different phones. He told her she could leave, and he would drop her off in the middle of Toronto without anything, no money, nothing, and she could make her own way home,” said Williamson. “She was scared.”
While Williamson is thankful for the officials who helped find Klaira, she’s also grateful for the community’s support during this time.
“We can’t thank people enough for everything that they’ve done to bring her home because if we didn’t have the outreach that we did and the people behind us, she could still be missing,” said Williamson.
In trying to locate her daughter, Williamson hired a private investigator using some of the funds raised from Go Fund Me. However, she’s mentioned that anyone wanting their donation back can request a refund through the fundraising platform.
If folks want to keep their donations instead, Williamson indicated it will help with Klaira’s recovery following this incident.
“Any of the remaining monies left will be for Klaira in the coming days for therapy or lawyers or anything that’s needed for this whole situation,” said Williamson, who has faced criticism regarding the fundraiser.
“My husband’s family is getting harassed with messages and my family as well. Even my mother-in-law is still getting calls,” said Williamson. “The negativity is insane now that she’s been found and the whole thing’s over.”
Williamson mentioned once her family gets settled again; she’ll advocate for simpler criteria in issuing Amber Alerts. In reflecting on what happened with Klaira’s case, she believes an alert might have led to finding her daughter sooner.
“I never thought that I would have to do something like that, but my family and I-and my sister-when everything’s settled down; we’re going to take steps toward advocating for Amber Alerts so they can be issued more quickly without so many hoops to jump through,” said Williamson.
In Ontario, either Ontario Provincial Police or local police services will only issue an Amber Alert when all four strict criteria are met at once:
The victim is a child under 18 years of age. Police believe there’s reason to suspect an abduction. Police feel there’s imminent danger of serious harm or death. There must be enough descriptive information available regarding the child or abductor indicating immediate public broadcast would aid in locating them.
Though these criteria are strict for Amber Alerts, Williamson wishes there’d be an easier method for notifying people about missing children and young adults.
Peel Regional Police haven’t responded yet regarding comments made about this case. The name of the 23-year-old man charged related to Klaira’s disappearance hasn’t been disclosed by authorities nor has any specific charges been made public yet.
Mkulchar
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