RCMP say the man suspected of snatching a toddler from his British Columbia home was arrested across the border in Alberta Tuesday, and is now in custody awaiting charges of kidnapping and abduction of a person under age 14.

Randall Peter Hopley was tracked down by a team of police dogs and arrested at an abandoned cabin near a bible camp in Alberta around 10 a.m. local time Tuesday, police told reporters at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Hopley's car, which police were also looking for, was located nearby.

Hopley is believed to be responsible for three-year-old Kienan Hebert's disappearance from his family home in Sparwood, B.C. sometime after he was put to bed Tuesday night.

Insp. Brendan Fitzpatrick of the B.C. RCMP's major crime unit said Hopley has not been formally charged. However, he is being held at the force's Cranbrook detachment and is expected to appear before a judge some time on Wednesday.

The Canadian Press reported late Tuesday that court records show Hopley has been charged with two counts of breach of probation in the past week. The first charge was sworn for a breach that allegedly occurred the day Kienan went missing, and the second was sworn on Tuesday for a breach that allegedly occurred on Monday.

After an exhaustive search that grew to include Amber Alerts in both British Columbia and Alberta, as well as appeals from both police and the Hebert family for Kienan's safe return, the boy was safely returned in the pre-dawn hours early Sunday morning.

Investigators refused to release details about how Kienan was removed from his home, or where he was kept in the days he was missing.

But Sgt. Lorne Craig, of the RCMP's Elk Valley detachment, said police had previously cordoned off the area around the camp, and received a tip Monday night that Hopley might be nearby.

Fitzpatrick said several dog units were deployed to the area Monday. They then remained overnight, until the dogs picked up Hopley's scent.

"They were checking old mining houses in this area of this bible camp," Fitzpatrick told reporters. "And as one knocked on the door the dog indicated that there was possibly some activity and the dog master and the police dog pursued that and it resulted in Mr. Hopley being arrested after a chase."

Fitzpatrick confirmed for reporters that Hopley did see a doctor after his arrest. However, he declined to say what led to Hopley's need to receive medical attention.

Fitzpatrick denied reports that a second person was involved in Kienan's abduction. And when offering a timeline of the investigation's first hours, he clarified that an Amber Alert was not declared right when Kienan was reported missing because the criteria had not been met. However, when investigators identified Hopley as a person of interest by the dinner hour Wednesday, they were able to issue the alert.

Fitzpatrick called Kienan's return "a virtually unprecedented situation."

"The probability that Kienan be returned to his residence was extremely low," he said.

But he bristled when a reporter asked whether police had made a deal to allow the boy's alleged abductor to return the child unharmed in exchange for his freedom.

Kienan's family and police had issued an emotional plea to the boy's abductor that he leave the child in a public space and walk away.

"I can tell you absolutely there was no deal made with Mr. Hopley," Fitzpatrick said Tuesday. "Purely and simply, that was an investigational tactic that was employed by our investigation team."

Fitzpatrick also said police did not put the Hebert home under surveillance after issuing their appeal because they did not believe, if the abductor responded, that he or she would return the little boy to his own house.

Family Will 'Rest Easy'

In an interview earlier Tuesday with CTV News, Kienan's father Paul Hebert said the fact police had arrested the only suspect in the kidnapping case represented "a big burden lifted off our shoulders."

Hebert added that, while he was happy his son was back home, before Hopley's arrest he continued to fear for the safety of everyone else in Sparwood.

"Now that the community is taken care of, I think we can all rest easy tonight," he said.

Hebert said he and his family are back living in their home, after having moved to a neighbour's house following Kienan's disappearance.

Earlier Tuesday, he told CTV's Canada AM that he was thankful for the work the RCMP had done to get his son back to him.

"You know, the RCMP, they do everything they can to get the job done," Hebert said during a telephone interview from Sparwood on Tuesday morning.

"Then it goes before the judge and you know, the lawyers sort it out."

Hebert said it seems that Hopley is a person in need of help, whom the justice system appears to have set adrift.

"Instead of helping him and getting him the help he needs, they just threw him right back into society," said Hebert.

Crowsnest Lake resident Lyndsay Vinet heard the news of Hopley's arrest over her police scanner.

"It was really quiet and then all of a sudden the cop said over the radio, ‘we got ‘em, we got ‘em,' and he was so elated," Vinet said. "You could hear the excitement in his voice and it was amazing."

Hopley's mother, Margaret Fink, had issued an emotional appeal for her son to contact her as police ramped up their search for him and the missing boy.

On Tuesday, she expressed relief that he was in custody.

"I love him," she told CTV News. "It don't matter what. He's my only boy left now."

Hopley's car has since been towed from the camp and will be examined by investigators.