Athabasca social networks lit up last Wednesday with reported sightings of David Warren Buchanan, a 67-year-old wanted in connection to three alleged attempted child abductions.
The concerns of residents were quelled when it was announced later that week that Buchanan had been apprehended by RCMP in Penticton, B.C.
Before he was captured, word spread quickly on Facebook about the man being seen around town after the Edmonton Sun released a story that stated police believed he had spent time in northern Alberta, including Athabasca and Vermillion.
The story said police were seeking the man, described as having a salt and pepper beard and wearing a red cowboy hat, after he initiated a conversation with a four-year old boy and then asked the boy to leave with him.
Police were seeking the man on two similar abduction attempts that also happened in the province’s capital in January.
With no fixed address, they reported that the man had been seen driving a 2003 Chevrolet Impala and a 2011 blue Chrysler Town and Country van. They added that he has not responded to calls from police.
Reported sightings of the man in Athabasca popped up a number of times on local Facebook groups, but Athabasca RCMP said that despite all the calls they did not confirm any of the reported sightings.
Corporal Francis Hachey said that police appreciate the concern and vigilance demonstrated by the citizens of Athabasca, but they had no reason to believe the suspect was in the area.
“As far as we know this guy has no connections here, so he shouldn’t be in this area,” Cpl. Hachey said last week. “Until we can confirm something we don’t believe he’s here.”
