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Authorities have many questions after a six-year-old girl who was reported missing in Whitby has been found safe.
Not long after Durham police held a press conference looking for information about the missing child, they confirmed that she was found unharmed in Mississauga.
While police indicated that the girl was last seen with an “associate” of her father, it appears he and other family members have not been helpful to investigators.
According to police, the girl was left with 48-year-old Blair Hamilton – referred to as an “associate” of her father – on Saturday evening at the Mc Donald’s plaza located at Dundas St. E. and Thickson Rd. in Whitby.
Surveillance footage captured her around 12:10 a. m. Sunday morning, and she was seen again later that afternoon somewhere in Peel Region.
“Given her age, and the circumstances surrounding this case, we are very concerned for her safety,” Sgt. Nicholas Gluckstein stated during a Tuesday morning press briefing.
Police Alerted on Monday
During the Tuesday press briefing, Gluckstein mentioned that authorities are also trying to find the girl’s mother, Nicole Thompson.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to reach the mother at all,” Gluckstein explained.
“If she sees this information, we urge her to come forward and speak with our investigators. And if anyone knows where she is, we really encourage them to contact us so we can locate her.”
He noted that police were only informed about the child’s disappearance on Monday evening – two days later – thanks to tips from her grandfather and a concerned third party.
Gluckstein added that at some point, Hamilton had the girl under unknown conditions.
“We have spoken with the father; however, he has not cooperated with us which adds to our frustration and contributes to our lack of information,” Gluckstein said.
Although Gluckstein did not specify whether Hamilton had previous encounters with law enforcement, he mentioned they “had some interactions” which helped them identify him through video evidence.
Investigation Not Classified as Abduction
He revealed that investigators worked throughout the night searching for leads regarding the girl’s disappearance in both Durham and Peel regions.
“They explored every lead,” he said.
“Our air support unit has been involved along with drones.”
He stated that this case is still being treated as a missing persons investigation rather than an abduction case; hence there hasn’t been an Amber Alert issued.
“ We considered issuing Amber Alerts-there’s a specific process that’s strategic and sensitive for obtaining one,” he explained while noting they’ve communicated with OPP regarding Ontario’s Amber Alert management system. P >
If further details emerge , we’ll look into those thresholds needed for triggering an Amber Alert.
< p Class =" MB – T LD DMD RCH IDK CCHRNEGBU_XDC KR _HRCRCN#&MS&MNKKM@PR_NXSN2 # ___HMU+QQ +LBUL_/HSQ_IHCYPDRSBQ __IHPYX_E_HSA&TC_DAN_CD&XSYB$EMMA/ _IXTDBUP@XXW/#_____E__C__<Anyone who may know anything is encouraged to call Durham Regional Police Service at 905 -579 -1520.
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