Zachary Miller

[Sher]

Amber Alert issued for Sask. boy


If you have any information, please call 1-877-SO AMBER (1-877-762-6237 or dial 911.




REGINA (CP) - Police have put out an Amber Alert for a missing Saskatchewan boy believed to have been taken by a pedophile with a string of convictions in Ontario.

RCMP say 10-year-old Zachary Miller went missing from his Whitewood-area home Sunday afternoon.

They're also looking for 35-year-old Peter Robert Joseph Whitmore, a repeat sex offender who now lives in Morinville, Alta.

"The suspect has been seen in the Whitewood area over the last few days. The suspect has also been in contact with the victim's family in the last few days as well," said Sgt. Tammy Patterson.

RCMP said Zachary could be in danger, and called the circumstance of his disappearance "suspicious."

"The level of concern is extremely grave at this time. We believe that the victim may come to harm and that is the purpose for putting out the Amber Alert," said Patterson.

Zachary is described as four and a half feet tall, 70 pounds, with red hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen wearing black track pants with a red and white stripe and running shoes.

Whitmore is described as six feet tall, white, with a heavy build, brown hair and blue eyes.

Police say Whitmore may be accompanied by an aboriginal youth, about 14 years old.

He may be driving a 1988 blue Dodge Caravan with wood panelling and Alberta plate CUS 532.

Whitmore is well-known in Ontario for a string of high-profile sex assault convictions against children.

He was first convicted in 1993 of abduction and five sexual offences involving four young boys and spent 16 months in custody.

Nine days after his release, he took an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont., to Toronto. He was sentenced to 56 months in prison for that.

Less than a month after his November 2000 release, Whitmore was found in a downtown Toronto motel with a 13-year-old boy. He was sentenced to one year in jail.

Whitmore also has a record in British Columbia, where he has been fighting to be moved in order to avoid the media spotlight in Ontario.

Whitmore fled there in 2002 after being found in the company of a five-year-old boy.

Whitmore pleaded guilty to the parole violations because a "rape kit" had been found on him while in British Columbia.

A search of Whitmore's backpack turned up latex gloves, pictures of young children, tubes of jelly lubricant, duct tape, a sleeping bag and plastic zipper ties that can be used as handcuffs

[Sher]

The RCMP is conducting an exhaustive search in Western Canada for two missing boys believed to be in the custody of a convicted Ontario pedophile.


CTV.ca News Staff

Peter Robert Joseph Whitmore is seen in this undated photo released by Saskatchewan RCMP 'F' Division.

The Mounties have laid a charge of abduction against 35-year-old Peter Whitmore on Monday in the disappearance of 10-year-old Zachary Miller of Whitewood, Sask.

Officials issued an Amber Alert for Zachary on Sunday, describing the boy as white, 4'5" tall, about 70 pounds with red hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen wearing black track pants with a red and white stripe and running shoes.

Police said Whitmore may also be accompanied by a missing aboriginal youth.

Jordan Bruyere, 14, was last seen July 22 in Brandon, Manitoba.

Bruyere is described as 5'6" tall, 150 pounds, with blue-green eyes and brown hair.

Police said Whitmore and Bruyere were in Whitewood for at least a week and that they had contact with Miller's family.

Whitmore is a repeat sex offender. After serving his most recent sentence, of three years, Whitmore initially relocated to Chilliwack, B.C. in June 2005, and then to Morinville, Alberta in June.


He is described as white, about six feet tall with a heavy build. He may be driving a 1988 blue Dodge Caravan with possible wood paneling.

"The suspect has been seen in the Whitewood area over the last few days," Sgt. Tammy Patterson said Monday. "The suspect has also been in contact with the victim's family in the last few days."

"The level of concern is extremely grave at this time. We believe that the victim may come to harm and that is the purpose for putting out the Amber Alert."

Whitewood Mayor Malcolm Green said his office is working with residents in the surrounding area.

"We're asking them to (report) anything they have seen or heard, or any kind of information, to immediately report it to the RCMP to try to get this to a happy conclusion," he told CTV's Canada AM on Monday.

Green said the community of less than 1,000 people has awoken to a "real shock."

"(It's) something that shouldn't happen to any community, least of all a small, quiet community like ours."

Bruyere's mother, Joannie Robinson, says Whitmore travelled with her son and her husband to Brandon about two weeks ago to pick up a new truck.

Whitmore managed to convince Robinson's husband to return to Winnipeg after asking him to pick up $2,000 that he said he'd left behind.

She said Whitmore promised to return later with the boy, but never did.

"I'm just going to get my van fixed here in Brandon and I'll bring Jordan home," Robinson quoted Whitmore as saying.

He then called the next day and repeated the promise but he never returned the boy, said Robinson.

"I talked to my son. I asked him if he was OK. He said yes," she said.

"I tried to find out where he was, (but) he kept telling me 'Mom, I don't know where I am.'"

Criminal history

Whitmore is well known in Ontario for a string of high-profile sex assault convictions against children. He was first convicted in 1993 of abduction and five sexual offences involving four young boys and spent 16 months in custody.

Nine days after his release, he took an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont., to Toronto, and was sentenced to 56 months in prison.

Less than a month after his November 2000 release, he was found in a downtown Toronto motel with a 13-year-old boy. He was sentenced to one year in jail.

In 2002 he fled to British Columbia in an attempt to avoid the media spotlight in Ontario after he was found in the company of a five-year-old boy.

In B.C., he pleaded guilty to parole violations because a "rape kit" had been found on him.

A search of Whitmore's backpack turned up latex gloves, pictures of young children, tubes of jelly lubricant, duct tape, a sleeping bag and plastic zipper ties that can be used as handcuffs.

In 2002, Whitmore told CTV's Canada AM that he was not going to re-offend. "I can't change the past, but I can change the future. I won't do it again," he said.

People with information are asked to call 1-877-SO-AMBER or 1-877-762-6237.

Or email [e-mail]

The official police service contact for this Amber Alert is Sgt. Tammy Patterson [phone]

[Sher]

A standoff in rural Saskatchewan involving pedophile Peter Whitmore ended late Tuesday with his surrender and the freedom of a 14-year-old boy.


CTV.ca News Staff



Police said after 10 hours of negotiations, Jordan Bruyere walked out of the farm a few minutes before Whitmore's ultimate surrender.

Earlier Tuesday, 10-year-old Zachary Miller of Whitewood, Sask. was found alive and in good physical condition at an abandoned farm near Kipling, about 40 kilometres southwest of his home.

"We have the resolution to this whole investigation we were hoping for, that is, everybody is safe and sound at this time and being looked after," RCMP Sgt. Tammy Patterson said late Tuesday.

Miller has been reunited with his parents but was first taken to a Regina hospital for a checkup.

Bruyere was later taken to the same hospital and found to be in good physical health. He remains in the care of the RCMP and was expected to be reunited with his family.

Whitmore is charged with the abduction of Miller. Patterson told CTV's Canada AM in an interview Wednesday that the investigation was ongoing. She did not rule out the possibility that additional charges could be laid.

Whitmore is expected to appear in court today.

Farmer spots vehicle

Farmer Pat Beaujot, a resident of the Kipling area, told CTV he spotted an abandoned van that matched the description of the vehicle police had been searching for in relation to Zachary's abduction.

He rushed home to phone the police, who arrived and immediately set up a perimeter around the farm. They also had a helicopter overhead and dispatched an emergency response team.

"Police cars were coming from all directions at that time and they were talking to me and we were some distance from the yard. And one of the police noticed a young boy coming out," said Beaujot.

"He came through the trees." That boy was Zachary Miller, who walked over to police after they called him over.

Before he spotted the vehicle, Beaujot said he saw tracks into the yard going to a small car garage just to the east of the house. In the garage, he saw a bucket of chicken and bones -- along with the van Whitmore was believed to be using -- which aroused his suspicions.

He went home, had his wife phone police, then returned to the farmyard to keep an eye on the place.

Police used a robot to bring a cell phone to Whitmore. The standoff took about nine hours to resolve.

Earlier in the day, an RCMP officer who once worked with Whitmore issued a plea for him to release the two missing boys believed to be in his custody.

In an audio statement on the RCMP Saskatchewan website, Cpl. Laural Mathew told Whitmore that he was doing well in his rehabilitation in Chilliwack, B.C., and that he needs to do the right thing.

"You were doing so well while you were here, and I know you've been going through some stress lately," said Mathew in her audio statement.

"But Peter, this needs to come to an end. The best thing for you to do, right now, is to find a way to do what you've always done before -- and release the children."

Whitmore is a repeat sex offender. After serving his most recent sentence of three years, Whitmore initially relocated to Chilliwack, B.C. in June 2005, and then to Morinville, Alta. in June.

He failed to appear at a June 29 court date and then disappeared.

How it started

Bruyere, a Winnipeg resident, was travelling with Whitmore and had last been seen in Brandon, Man. on July 22. He had been considered missing, but police did not call his case a kidnapping.

Jordan's mother, Joannie Robinson, says Whitmore travelled with her son and her husband to Brandon to pick up a new truck.

Whitmore managed to convince Robinson's husband to return to Winnipeg after asking him to pick up $2,000 that he said he'd left behind.

She said Whitmore promised to return later with the boy, but never did.

"I'm just going to get my van fixed here in Brandon and I'll bring Jordan home," Robinson quoted Whitmore as saying.

He then called the next day and repeated the promise but he never returned the boy, said Robinson.

"I talked to my son. I asked him if he was OK. He said yes," she said.

"I tried to find out where he was, (but) he kept telling me 'Mom, I don't know where I am.'"

Whitmore then showed up in Whitewood, about 180 km west of Brandon, with Bruyere. He posed as a family man from Alberta.

Bruyere ended up befriending Miller, and the two ended up going for a bike ride on Sunday. Their bikes were found abandoned at a farmyard.

The RCMP issued a rare national Amber Alert on Sunday after Miller went missing.

Police have charged Whitmore, 35, with abduction in the disappearance of Miller.

Criminal history

Whitmore is well known in Ontario for a string of high-profile sex assault convictions against children. He was first convicted in 1993 of abduction and five sexual offences involving four young boys and spent 16 months in custody.

Nine days after his release, he took an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont., to Toronto, and was sentenced to 56 months in prison.

Less than a month after his November 2000 release, he was found in a downtown Toronto motel with a 13-year-old boy. He was sentenced to one year in jail.

In 2002 he fled to British Columbia in an attempt to avoid the media spotlight in Ontario after he was found in the company of a five-year-old boy.

In B.C., he pleaded guilty to parole violations because a "rape kit" had been found on him.

A search of Whitmore's backpack turned up latex gloves, pictures of young children, tubes of jelly lubricant, duct tape, a sleeping bag and plastic zipper ties that can be used as handcuffs.

The Canadian Press reported Tuesday that the National Parole Board considered Whitmore to have a 100 per cent chance of reoffending.

In 2002, Whitmore told CTV's Canada AM that he was not going to re-offend. "I can't change the past, but I can change the future. I won't do it again," he said.

Community shocked

Whitewood Mayor Malcolm Green said residents in the community of less than 1,000 people -- located along the Trans-Canada Highway about 185 kilometres east of Regina -- are angry.

"We went from a state of shock yesterday morning to disbelief and then sadness. And now there's a level of anger due to the fact that this kind of thing shouldn't happen in any community, least of all ours," he told CTV on Tuesday.

"That a person with his background can move so freely without any knowledge of at least us being told and aware of what he is like."

In Kipling, Mayor Pat Jackson said there was disbelief something like this could happen.

Asked if people were worried about their kids, she said: "Wouldn't you be?"

People will be cautious for a while, but the community will calm down, she said.