Police said a Saskatchewan girl who was abducted from a playground last week was dropped off in a wooded area outside the city of Prince Albert.
Insp. Jason Stonechild said the eight-year-old girl walked from the woods to a nearby farm where the owner called police.
WATCH BELOW: Jared John Charles appears in Prince Albert courtroom facing several charges
“RCMP officers and members from our service immediately attended to this farmyard where officers were able to confirm that we had located our subject of the Amber Alert,” Stonechild said Wednesday.
“The victim was immediately taken to Victoria Hospital by our members for proper assessment.”
He said a canine unit followed the girl’s footsteps back to the woods to figure out where she had been abandoned.
He wouldn’t say how far of a walk it was to the farm or how long the girl had been on her own.
READ MORE: Suspect in Amber Alert previously charged with abduction in Saskatchewan
An Amber Alert was issued July 4 for the girl after she disappeared from a playground in the northern Saskatchewan city.
Police said the girl was playing by herself when a man entered the park. He was seen on video, obtained from the school, hanging around for about 15 minutes until the child left and he followed.
Police said he was seen talking to the girl against a school wall, then grabbed her and put her into the back seat of his car. He then climbed into the front and drove away.
She was found several hours later.
While police were at the farmyard, they received a call from a business in Prince Albert saying they had someone matching the suspect’s description, Stonechild said.
Officers immediately went to the business, which Stonechild wouldn’t identify, and arrested the Jared John Charles, 19, without incident.
READ MORE: Jarrod John Charles, Saskatchewan kidnapping suspect faces sex assault, confinement charges
Charles, who also goes by the first name of Jarrod, is facing numerous charges, including kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual assault and abandoning a child.
He was sentenced last December to three-and-a-half months’ time served, as well as three years of probation, in connection with a case that involved a nine-year-old girl.
Charles was also to register with the National Sexual Offender Registry and not to be alone with children under the age of 16 unless he was with an adult who knew about his conviction.
Public assistance following the police department’s first Amber Alert was incredible and vital to the safe return of the girl, Stonechild said, with people driving around looking for the girl and the suspect’s vehicle, he said.
“The response from the public was outstanding and it was immediate,” he said. “The investigation now continues.”
The girl’s mother has said what happened to her daughter shows it could happen to anyone. She said the girl was in the care of her grandmother, who had stepped away for a few minutes to get a bottle of water.
The girl was well-educated about kidnapping, her mother said.
“We have to remember that this was a rare and unfortunate incident in a very safe community,” Prince Albert police Chief Troy Cooper said Wednesday.
“The investigation to this point has been focusing on the actions of the suspected offender and not on the actions of the victim or the victim’s family.”
The girl and her family are being supported by victims’ services, he said.
“She’s an intelligent and happy young girl and we’re fortunate to see she’s with her family.”
With files from Global News
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