Three people arrested in connection with the abduction of a 14-year-old St. John’s girl will spend at least the weekend in jail.
Seventy-two-year-old Wilbur Jerome Crockwell of New Brunswick faces charges of abducting a person under 16 and luring a child online, while 63-year-old Erin Bast and 69-year-old Frederick Cyril Boone, both from Milltown in this province, are charged with child abduction and conspiracy to do so.
The girl, whose name is now banned from publication, was first reported missing last Friday, with police expressing concern for her safety, indicating that she may have been coached to travel to New Brunswick by someone she knew.
The investigation shifted on Thursday when police issued an Amber Alert indicating that the child had been abducted.
Police say Crockwell entered the province by ferry at Port aux Basques, and was arrested late Thursday in Badger.
The girl, meanwhile, was found unharmed in a cabin on the Bay D’Espoir Highway early Friday morning, along with Bast and Boone, who were also taken into custody.
The three accused made brief appearances in Grand Falls-Windsor provincial court this afternoon by phone from jail.
They were remanded in custody, and will be transferred to St. John’s for bail hearings on Monday.