A seven-year-old girl reported missing with her father on Jan. 23 has been located and is back with her mother.
Police said Violet Bennett was dropped off at the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment on Wednesday night by someone unknown to the girl.
“This investigation came to a positive ending, thanks to the work of our partnering police agencies, the media and ultimately the public who provided tips in hope to safely locate Violet,” RCMP said in a statement.
RCMP said no further details about the investigation would be released out of respect for the family’s privacy.
Her father, Jesse Bennett, is still wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for abduction in contravention of a custody order.
Bennett, 36, is described as five-foot-10 and 160 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair and a beard. He might have a shaved head or be wearing a hat.
The mother of the missing girl said in late January that Bennett failed to comply with a police-enforced shared custody agreement after months of withholding the girl from her.
At the time, Roget Jade Hall said she had seen her daughter only three times in nearly four months, despite a court order mandating shared custody between her and Bennett.
The order was initially not enforceable by police, so Hall had been unable to see her daughter since early October, except limited times when Bennett allowed it, she said.
Hall went to court to get her daughter back.
On Jan. 20, a judge established a shared custody agreement, placing Violet in Hall’s care on weekdays and with Bennett on weekends.
Bennett did not comply with the order.
Anyone with information on Bennett’s whereabouts is asked to contact their local police or the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.
— With files from Roxanne Egan-Elliott
