Sylvan Lake RCMP are telling the public there is no concern to public safety following reports of an attempted child abduction.
Officers responded to a call on May 14 at 9:30 p.m. when a parent made a complaint about a young girl being involved in a “suspicious conversation” with two adults.
RCMP say they investigated because the interaction, which had no physical component, caused concern for the girl’s family.
“The community can trust that we are committed to public safety and will advise if we identify a safety concern,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Shepherd, detachment commander of Sylvan Lake RCMP.
A Facebook post by the girl’s mother, which has now been removed, said the girl was approached by two adults dressed in black, one was being pushed in a wheel chair.
RCMP identified the adults in questions and they were both interviewed by a trained RCMP investigator.
Sylvan Lake RCMP say the stories of the adults in question add up, though what the adults reported said does not match what the girl reported was said.
It was determined communication barriers were involved between the subjects and the young child.
The RCMP say there was no “criminal intent in this verbal exchange.”
Staff Sgt. Shepherd says the girl did the right thing when she left the situation and went home to speak to her parents about the incident.
However, social media - such as the mother’s Facebook post - is said to have made the situation to be bigger than what it was.
“Unfortunately, social media is aggravating what is a solved investigation. All people in this community deserve to be treated respectfully, and act accordingly,” said Shepherd.
The police did not say which account of events they are choosing to believe, instead they are calling it a “non-event.”