HALIFAX – RCMP say two people missing from an Ontario mental health facility were spotted in Oxford, N.S. on Tuesday.
Sgt. Al LeBlanc said Joseph Pepin and Cara Duval were seen with their vehicle in the Oxford area.
Pepin and Duval were reported missing from the North Bay Hospital’s Mental Health and the Law program on Jan. 22.
Police say they are considered dangerous and should not be approached.
The couple was seen in Hanwell, N.B., just southwest of Fredericton, on Jan. 26, and were also spotted in Doaktown, N.B., trying to rent an apartment.
On Monday, the pair were caught briefly on security footage at the Truro Library.
Library director Janet Pelley said they came into the branch around 1 p.m. looking to use a public access computer.
“Then she asked if they had any identification and unfortunately they didn’t or they did not wish to show it. That ended it because we require some form of identification before we sign folks onto our public access computers.”
Pelley said the interaction was routine.
“They were very respectful, very quiet and very unremarkable,” she said.
It was only on Tuesday that staff realized the pair were being sought. They contacted police and turned over surveillance video from inside the library.
“It gives one pause but not overly concerning, no, because we have trained staff. We have trained security and we are open to everybody as we should be,” Pelley said.
The owner of a local bed and breakfast said she also saw them a few hours later.
Janice Tobin, the owner of Eagle’s Landing Bed and Breakfast, said Pepin and Duval showed up at her motel around 3 p.m. Monday.
“The woman came to the door and he stayed in the car,” she said, adding that the woman, whom she identified as Duval, asked about the price of a room.
“I said, ‘You’re coming in before the storm’. And she said they were coming from New Brunswick and looking for an apartment,” Tobin said.
“She said ‘We’re just tired and we need to make some phone calls.'”
Tobin said she gave Duval a quote and was asked whether the bed and breakfast takes cash.
“I said we can and she said, ‘OK, I’ll check with my husband,’ but then they drove off,” she said.
Tobin said she did not think anything of the encounter until she saw the couple in the news Tuesday night.
“Their faces came up and I said, ‘What?!'” Tobin said. “It was scary. You just don’t know who is coming to your door.”
She said her encounter with Duval was quite normal.
“She was obviously just tired I think and she did say she was tired. She had a pleasant smile, the smile you see on the picture they’ve posted everywhere of her,” she said.
Insp. Rob Hearn with Truro police said that there have only been three confirmed sightings of the pair around town: the Truro library, another library branch and the bed and breakfast.
“We have received tips they have been seen in various parts of Truro or the area but none of them have been confirmed,” he said.
LeBlanc said RCMP officers are on alert for the pair.
“We’re just asking people to call police right away if they see these people,” he said. “Our hope is to locate these people so they can be returned to North Bay.”
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