KALISPEL (AP) — A 3-year-old Canadian boy was found in Whitefish after his biological father abducted him and transported him across the border, Montana authorities said Friday.
An Amber Alert had been issued for the child, who was taken in British Columbia. Authorities had said they believed Alvin Barnett was in imminent danger.
Barnett kidnapped Alvin on Thursday during a supervised visit in Fernie, British Columbia, and crossed into Montana at the Port of Roosville that afternoon, authorities said. The alert was canceled Friday morning after officials said the child was safe and his father, Robert Barnett, was in custody.
Flathead County Undersheriff Dave Leib told the Daily Inter Lake (http://bit.ly/SRNRaw ) that Barnett approached a man outside a Whitefish bowling alley that day and asked for money and use of a phone. The man agreed to buy Barnet breakfast the next morning and let Barnett sleep in his car outside his home.
On Friday morning, the man realized Barnett was the subject of the Amber Alert and called 911.
Barnett was arrested without incident by Whitefish police and Flathead County Sheriff's deputies. Alvin was found unharmed and taken into the custody of the Division of Family Services in Kalispell, the state Department of Justice said in a statement.
"Thanks to the information that was broadcast by the Montana Department of Justice last night and an alert Whitefish resident, the suspect is in custody and the abducted child is now safe," Steve Bullock, the state's attorney general and governor-elect, said in the statement.
Barnett has been charged in Flathead County as a fugitive from justice and for custodial interference, for the purposes of holding him while arrangements are worked out between the county attorney's office and Canadian officials, Leib said.
"I don't know when his return will be or what the circumstances will be," Leib said. "I've talked to the Canadian consulate and they're working on the details."
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Information from: Daily Inter Lake, http://www.dailyinterlake.com
