UPDATE: Five children, who were at the centre of an Amber Alert, have been found safe, Niagara Regional Police have confirmed.
An older version of the story follows.
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TORONTO -- An Amber Alert has expired but five children allegedly abducted by their father sometime last month from the Niagara Region of southern Ontario are still missing, police say.
The children were last seen in the community of Jordan in the town of Lincoln, Ont., which is located approximately 50 kilometres east of Hamilton, according to Niagara Regional Police Service.
Media relations office Const. Phil Gavin told reporters the current whereabouts of the children, who are all Asian, are unknown and their “safety is our primary concern.”
Police identified the suspect as the children’s 49-year-old father, Ian MacDermid, who they allege took the children from their family home sometime between Sept. 19 and Sept. 25. Gavin told CTV News Channel that they’d been living in the home with both parents.
Police say the father contravened a temporary custody order by failing to return them.
MacDermid is described as being six feet tall and 280 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair and facial hair, and was last seen driving a gold or beige pickup truck. Gavin said the licence plate for the vehicle is unknown at this time.
Gavin said police suspect that MacDermid doesn’t own the vehicle he was driving at the time. He added that he may have borrowed it or “he may have had access to other vehicles.”
The Amber Alert was issued shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday after Family and Children's Services of Niagara reported the children missing to police in the past 24 hours, Gavin said.
The alert had expired by Tuesday night, according to Niagara Regional Police.
Gavin added the family has resided in the Toronto area five years ago, so investigators say “that it’s a possibility” the children could have been taken there. “We know they have a network of friends there and potentially family there,” Gavin told CTV News Channel.
Gavin is urging “the public to be vigilant and on the lookout” and that anyone with information about MacDermid’s whereabouts is urged to call 911.
“Requesting an Amber Alert is not something we take lightly. We recognize that we’ve impacted thousands of people around this province but we wouldn’t do that if we didn’t believe it to be important,” Gavin told CTV News Channel.
“We know that the Amber Alerts … in the past year, (show that) people don’t remain in the community where it (the abduction) occurred -- they travel,” he said. “So just because you live a distance away from Niagara doesn’t mean they couldn’t be in your neighbourhood.”
To leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers, call 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or visit Crime Stoppers of Niagara online.
