Details are emerging today in the case of Randall Hopley, who has pleaded guilty to the abduction of three year old Kienan Hebert.
Hopley is in Cranbrook Supreme Court today for sentencing.
As of 11:15 a.m., the Crown , represented by Lynal Doerksen has been delivering the statement of facts. Doerksen has also indicated he will be seeking dangerous or long term offender status for Hopley.
Court has heard the circumstances surrounding the Hebert family's discovery that Kienan was missing, and what led police to the Crowsnest Pass Bible Camp where Hopley was eventually located.
On Sept. 7, father Paul Hebert reported his son missing in the morning. Kienan had last been seen at 11 p.m. the previous evening.
The RCMP arrived shortly after and observed the distance between the Hebert home and Hopley's, who had been released from prison in the past few weeks.
Hopley had been spotted in the children's section of the Cranbrook Walmart recently.
Kienan's mother told police she had heard a loud noise like a toy hitting a surface in the middle of the night, but had assumed it was one of her children.
Swabs taken from the door revealed fingerprints but none were viable. Instead police located footprints around the home with a distinct waffle pattern.
Similar footprints were later found at a neighbouring home and at the Crowsnest Pass Bible Camp and a pair of slippers were located in a building adjacent to the camp matching the pattern.
The search involved many RCMP officers, local residents, the Cranbrook RCMP dog team, a military helicopter and over 400 tips were received from the public.
An Amber Alert was issued on Sept. 7 and Hopley was identified as the suspect that evening.
A witness reported seeing a boy described as "a carrot top with white skin" being carried by a man near Mitchell Creek Road at 6:50 a.m. The witness could not describe the man but said the boy was wearing a coat.
In the early hours of Sept. 11, a 911 call was received. The unknown caller advised that Kienan Hebert had been returned to his home. When the dispatcher asked for the caller's name, he became upset and said, "Doesn't matter. He's returned home, okay?"
The caller was later identified as Hopley by his mother, Margaret Fink, who became upset when the RCMP played the recording for her.
In court, Hopley bowed his head as the call was played.
More updates to follow.