Police negotiating with suspect after missing boy found
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 1, 2006 | 5:31 PM ET
CBC News
Police in Saskatchewan were still negotiating late Tuesday night with a convicted sex offender at an abandoned farm after a massive search for two youths resulted in finding one of the boys alive and well.
The negotiations began with Peter Whitmore several hours earlier at the farm near Kipling, Sask. Police said that 14-year-old Jordan Bruyere of Winnipeg was with Whitmore at the farm and is apparently in good condition.
"We're not going to rush things in order to expediate a resolution," said RCMP spokeswoman Tammy Patterson. "We want a safe resolution."
Zachary Miller of Whitewood, Sask., was found near Kipling, Sask., about 170 kilometres southeast of Regina.
Patterson added she did not know if Whitmore was armed.
Ten-year-old Zachary Miller of Whitewood, Sask., was discoverd at the Kipling property Tuesday afternoon. He was reunited with his family and was reported by the RCMP to be in "good condition."
Police said a resident of the Kipling area spotted an abandoned van that matched the description of the vehicle police had been searching for. While the person was investigating, a young boy ran out of a farm building, located about 17 kilometres east of Kipling.
Peter Whitmore is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant. (CP PHOTO/ RCMP/HO)
Police immediately cordoned off the area and an emergency response team was dispatched.
The two boys disappeared from Whitewood on Sunday. Police issued an Amber Alert after Zachary disappeared and also issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Whitmore for abduction.
Whitmore a no-show for hearing
Whitmore has spent time in prison for sex crimes involving children. He served 16 months in custody after being convicted in Ontario in 1993 of abduction and sexual offences involving four boys.
Just nine days after he was released, he took an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont., to Toronto. He received a 56-month sentence for a sex offence involving the girl.
His most recent prison sentence, for violating terms of his probation, was served in Chilliwack, B.C., and ended in June 2005.
B.C. authorities successfully applied for a court order, good for one year, to monitor his movements within the province.
Whitmore revealed he was planning to move to Alberta and authorities in that province were alerted, but he failed to show up for a June 29 hearing.
Residents in Topsail, about a 20-minute drive from St. John's, N.L. told CBC Tuesday that Whitmore moved into the community in late June but left shortly thereafter. Whitmore reportedly told locals that his wife had died and that he was looking to bring his two young children to the area.
Whitmore's former lawyer, Daniel Brodksy, said he can't believe the convicted pedophile was allowed to travel freely from province to province.
"It's amazing that with Peter's history — where even his own defence lawyer says he's a high-risk, high-needs individual who can live in the community but only if he's properly supervised — how you can let the conditions of his supervision expire," said Brodsky.
While there was joy for the Miller family Tuesday afternoon, the Manitoba family of Jordan Bruyere was still waiting anxiously for good news.
Earlier in the day, a Whitewood resident said he had met with Whitmore and Bruyere on July 28 and the boy appeared to be in good physical condition.
Kevin White, who has a car dealership in the town, said a man whose van needed a tire came in to his business accompanied by a youth. White said he later saw photos on the internet and confirmed he saw Whitmore and Bruyere.
Jordan's aunt phoned him last night to find out what happened.
"I basically told them he didn't seem to be physically abused," White said. "There were no bruises or anything. He wasn't visibly upset. He was just very quiet."
