Powell River RCMP said social media played a major role in locating two missing 15-year-olds who ran away from their Texada Island home Monday morning.
Miranda and Samantha Chesney were found Monday night in a North Vancouver hotel with a man in his 30s, said Powell River RCMP Const. Tim Kenning. Police believe the twins were trying to travel to their hometown of Rimbey, Alta., about 150 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
Kenning said the man is a family acquaintance but he was made aware how inappropriate it was to help two minors leave home.
On Monday afternoon, a woman posted on the Texada Island Facebook group that she had spotted the twins with an older man near Westview Ferry Terminal in Powell River.
The girls’ older sister, Sara Valentine, was reading the tips as they came in and relaying them to police.
Photos of Miranda and Samantha were circulated in several Facebook posts.
“In this case, social media was quite helpful,” Kenning said. “It created a public interest, which in turn created attention” and tips.
Photos of the girls were also provided to B.C. Ferries, and Kenning said staff was helpful in tracking their route.
The girls, who had been staying with Valentine on Texada Island, are now in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development. It’s unclear whether they will be sent back to their mother in Alberta or their sister, Kenning said.
