Halton Regional Police Services
Senior arrested for sexual assault
At 2:30 PM today Halton Regional Police reached out to the public to find a 12 year old girl whose father was extremely worried. By 3:30 PM, she was located safe and sound. The power of social media is proving to be a valuable tool for the police to quickly reach out to the public.
The father of Sophia, a grade 7 student, became distressed when she left her home early to catch a ride to St. Bernadette Elementary School which is located at 1201 Heritage Way in Glen Abbey. When her father searched the house and then headed out to the pick up location at Howell and River Glen Drive in River Oaks, Sophia was no-where to be seen.
This was out of character for Sophia to be ready to go earlier than normal. Her father usually has to rush her out or drive her to the pickup location, because she is usually close to missing the school bus.
The police issued the bulletin at 2:30, which was picked up on Facebook, Twitter, and other news websites. As is usual in these cases the news travelled fast, which is the major benefit of social media.
"MT Oakville officers have located missing girl Sophia Delisle safe and sound. Please delete photos/re-tweets @HRPSOak" ^jr @HaltonPolice at 3:30 PM
Having a good description of your children or loved ones is critical, since releasing a photograph with a clear description is critical in locating missing people. You should also be able to provide the person's height, weight, build, eye colour, hair colour and length, and any identifiable markings such as pierced ears, birth marks, and tattoos.
With Sophia she was found safe and sound with in an hour of the Police releasing their bulletin. They tweeted out at 3:30 PM that she was safe. They also asked that media and tweets eliminate her picture from media - which is why OakvilleNews.Org decided not to run her photograph with this article.
In just the past month another Burlington teenager had gone missing and with in hours the young man was also located. Social media and on-line news sources were also effective in successfully resolving that missing person case.
