Abducted child in B.C. returned by kidnapper

[Devils'Advocate]

I always thought those emotional pleas by parents were a waste of time and just were for drama to get ratings on the news. I guess this time it worked.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...boy-found.html

I've heard of cases where they found a kid in the woods. I've heard of cases where they captured the kidnapper. I've heard of cases where they never found the child at all. But this is the first time I've heard of the kidnapper returning the child.

BTW - it was nice that on the 10th anniversary of September 11th, that I went to read the morning news and there was a good news story.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I always thought those emotional pleas by parents were a waste of time and just were for drama to get ratings on the news. I guess this time it worked.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...boy-found.html

I've heard of cases where they found a kid in the woods. I've heard of cases where they captured the kidnapper. I've heard of cases where they never found the child at all. But this is the first time I've heard of the kidnapper returning the child.

BTW - it was nice that on the 10th anniversary of September 11th, that I went to read the morning news and there was a good news story.

I literally just read this on cbc.ca and had the same thought.

Such an odd story. There has to be more to it.

Why would a kidnapper risk taking the kid back to the house? Why not just drop him at a mall or park?

No surveillance at the kids house? No police presence at all?

[Ducay]

Great to hear.

Suspect sounds like a guy who can't control his impulses, glad he came to his senses and brought him back instead of trying to cover it up by killing him.

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

No surveillance at the kids house? No police presence at all?

You think police have the resources to hang out around every house of potential kidnap victims indefinitely?

Originally Posted by Ducay

Great to hear.

Suspect sounds like a guy who can't control his impulses, glad he came to his senses and brought him back instead of trying to cover it up by killing him.





You think police have the resources to hang out around every house of potential kidnap victims indefinitely?

In this case, yes. I am pretty sure they had a blank cheque and an infinite number of resources. It's not like municipalities, the RCMP have deeeeeeep pockets.

[Barnet Flame]

I don't care about surveillance - the important thing is that little boy is back home with his parents. This is the best possible ending that could have been hoped for. In fact, thinking about it, had there been some kind of stand off, the boy's life could have been at greater risk.

And yes, how unexpectedly nice to have a wonderful good news story today.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I always thought those emotional pleas by parents were a waste of time and just were for drama to get ratings on the news. I guess this time it worked.

Awesome news!

There is no feeling in the world like being wrong, so yet so glad to be so.

[Meelapo]

It's nice to hear the boy is back with his family. I am, however, wondering how the kidnapper returns the boy to the house without anyone seeing. It seems a bit weird. You'd think there would be people around the house or that the parent's would know someone broke into their house, again, and did something with their kid, again.

And I don't have a three year old child nor do I know any but shouldn't a three year old be able to speak a bit? The parents stated during their plee that the child can't even speak. From what I can remember three year old kids can speak a little bit. Seems like there's more to this.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

Such an odd story. There has to be more to it.

Why would a kidnapper risk taking the kid back to the house? Why not just drop him at a mall or park?

No surveillance at the kids house? No police presence at all?

I agree that there is something fishy about this. First, the child disappeared from a house with 7 other kids and two adults. Then the RCMP almost automatically knew who took the kid, even though this Hopley guy is supposedly a complete stranger to the child and to the family. Then the child is returned (unharmed hopefully) - right back to the house without anyone seeing anything, and the suspect disappears.

If this was a movie I'd be rolling my eyes at the unlikleyhood of it all.

[Huntingwhale]

This never happens. Unbelievable.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Amazing!
This news has been everywhere in BC over the last few days and we've had an amber alert the whole time.
What a great piece of news to wake up to.

PS, the suspect is one creepy SOB

[metallicat]

Let's just hope he was returned unharmed in any way, although I sort of doubt he was. Sad story. Glad he's home alive.

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

Originally Posted by Ducay

You think police have the resources to hang out around every house of potential kidnap victims indefinitely?

The RCMP announced that they tripled the number of investigators working the case yesterday.

[drhu22]

Re: If this was a movie I'd be rolling my eyes at the unlikleyhood of it all.

Something else that makes me suspicious is that in interviews with the father, his statements sound strangely lacking in emotion. Does anyone else notice that?

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Meelapo

And I don't have a three year old child nor do I know any but shouldn't a three year old be able to speak a bit? The parents stated during their plee that the child can't even speak. From what I can remember three year old kids can speak a little bit. Seems like there's more to this.

Kids normally learn to talk within the first two years. Three-year olds definitely normally talk.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

I think social media really played a huge part in this kid being returned unharmed.

A decade ago, posters, newspapers and news stations, and word of mouth would have been the only ways to spread the word.

Today, social media takes raising awareness about situations like this to a whole new level. It creates a massive amount of social pressure on the kidnapper.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

I think social media really played a huge part in this kid being returned unharmed.

A decade ago, posters, newspapers and news stations, and word of mouth would have been the only ways to spread the word.

Today, social media takes raising awareness about situations like this to a whole new level. It creates a massive amount of social pressure on the kidnapper.

Not sure I agree with this. Sure it raises awareness for the public, but why would the type of person who abducts a child care what is being said on facebook? If their moral compass is so far off that they are willing to abduct a child and even worse, I don't think people posting on facebook would do anything to change their mind -- clearly these aren't people that are worried about social pressure.

I'm not sure what resulted in this guy returning the kid -- its just a lucky and rare case.

Didn't the guy's mom make a plea for him to return the kid as well? Maybe that had an affect on him.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Not sure I agree with this. Sure it raises awareness for the public, but why would the type of person who abducts a child care what is being said on facebook? If their moral compass is so far off that they are willing to abduct a child and even worse, I don't think people posting on facebook would do anything to change their mind -- clearly these aren't people that are worried about social pressure.

I'm not sure what resulted in this guy returning the kid -- its just a lucky and rare case.

Didn't the guy's mom make a plea for him to return the kid as well? Maybe that had an affect on him.

Fair enough. You make a good point.

However, there is a chance that it may not have been a lucky and rare case. Quite possibly, a half-assed rational thought came across this person's brain and realized that public awareness of this kidnapping was HUGE. Whether that was created by social media or not is debatable, but there's no doubt in my mind that it adds another dimension to creating awareness and social pressure in situations such as this one.

On a different thought, I could never ever see this level of public awareness or even care happening in the United States as it did in BC and western Alberta. Maybe because kidnappings happen multiple times on a daily basis that Americans become desensitized to them, but it was unbelievable the amount of care this part of Canada had about this particular kidnapping.

[normtwofinger]

I may be in the minority, but did anyone else find the father's behaviour weird during this whole case? Not saying he is a suspect. I don't have children, but if i did, there is no way I would be able to face the media so non-challantly. For pete's sake, your child is gone, show some emotion. Very interesting.

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

Doesn't the parent/spouse/child always make a plea in these cases?

I'm not sure about the social media aspect being a huge factor either. There has been other cases around here that had huge awareness surrounding them (eg. Mindy Tran, Michael Dunahee).

That said, it was a pretty big deal here. There were people in Van. that had the suspect's car description and license plate number memorized just in case.