The mother of a two-year-old is being charged after leaving a pre-arranged visitation location with her son.

After a high-stakes evening Tuesday where a child was taken out of Winnipeg and an Amber Alert issued, Winnipeg Police Service says they have laid a charge. The mother who took her child and later brought him to an RCMP detachment is being charged with Abduction Where No Custody Order.

Earlier:

The Winnipeg Police Service says an Amber Alert ended well after a mother brought herself and her missing toddler to an RCMP detachment.

Authorities are thanking the public for their assistance after a parental abduction involving a toddler came to a safe conclusion.

"I can tell you there is a collective sigh of relief amongst all of my colleagues," Constable Rob Carver says in an unscheduled Tuesday night press conference about the boy being found safe. "As it was unfolding and we were hoping that it was looking like there was a sense of bated breath."

On Tuesday night, the WPS sent out an Amber Alert for a missing two-year-old and his mother. The mother chose to bring herself to the authorities and the boy is safe. Carver is crediting the Amber Alert for the safe ending. Carver says the mother saw the alert and drove her and her son to the RCMP detachment in Amaranth, Manitoba.

"This unfolded exactly the way we wanted to," Carver says about the WPS's first Amber Alert.

The high-stakes evening began when police received the report of a parental abduction at 5:26 p.m., Tuesday. They issued an Amber Alert shortly after 8 p.m. 

"The concerns were based on the biological mother leaving a pre-arranged, supervised visit at a specified location with the child without legal authorization," the WPS says in a statement.

Believed to be heading to Ebb and Flow First Nation, a community approximately 250 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg, the WPS issued an Amber Alert. Carver says investigators from the WPS Missing Persons Unit investigated the background of the situation, including the legal framework before making the call.

Carver says the ongoing investigation and the mother going to the authorities does not mean the mother will be charged with anything.

"This is a trauma for a family we have got a young child, a mother who is obviously facing some trauma herself."

He says investigators will carefully review this information. Carver says that while he cannot say if this was a custody dispute, but did say those disputes are highly charged.

Carver says the public has a strong response to the alert.

"We would like to thank the public for their incredible response to this situation, as well as the RCMP for their invaluable assistance."

Carver says "people often ask us how come we don't do this more often" regarding sending alerts. He says they need to review the information before doing any missing person alerts. This was his first Amber Alert.

"It is not taken lightly, but everything has to be looked at... it is a very complex process."

They look at the background of the events and people close to the situation. When deciding to go forward, Carver says it takes a matter of minutes to initiate.

Carver says officers fielded calls and tips once the alert was issued, appreciating each call. In the upcoming days, the Winnipeg Police Service will be reviewing the circumstances around the abduction.  

 

In the fall the WPS issued an Amber Alert that was called off minutes after the public was alerted. An earlier statement from the WPS said Tuesday was their first Amber Alert.