The Native Women’s Association of Canada wants law enforcement to update how it applies the AMBER Alert criteria for cases involving Indigenous girls. The demand comes after a 14-year-old Indigenous girl was found in a wooded area with the suspect a week after she was missing. Law enforcement listed the girl as a runaway, but the group said an AMBER Alert should have been issued because of her age and the larger issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
“They may have run away, but we have to look at it more in depth,” said Lorraine Whitman, president of the association. “We just can’t take it as a case that they wanted to leave. We have to look into it because there are more underlying areas that we have to investigate as well.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Nova Scotia is reviewing its protocols and policies.