Why only one Amber alert went out when West Kelowna kid was taken by mom twice

An amber alert was issued across the province for a 4-year-old boy in West Kelowna, but there wasn’t an alert issued when the same boy was reported missing last week from Langley.

The boy who was reported missing in West Kelowna just after midnight on July 22 was found the same day. He was also reported missing in Langley on July 16 and found on July 20. In both cases the suspect was his mother, but only the second report resulted in an Amber alert.

Amber alerts are intended only for serious, time-critical child abduction cases. They aren’t supposed to be used for parental abductions, except in life-threatening situations.

West Kelowna RCMP’s Const. Ash Puri said investigators knew about the first incident when they put out the alert just after midnight on July 22.

“Investigators were aware of information relating to the earlier incident and considered all available information as part of their assessment. Every occurrence is evaluated independently based on the specific facts and evidence available to police at that time,” Puri said in an email.

Puri said he couldn’t disclose what exact evidence there was that qualified the second incident for an Amber alert.

“We cannot discuss the specific evidence or investigative information that informed police decision-making in either occurrence. However, during the July 21 investigation, investigators gathered information that provided reasonable grounds to believe (he) may be in imminent danger. Once the Amber Alert criteria were met, the alert was issued,” Puri said.

Amber alerts are only put out when the victim is under the age of 18, police believe they were abducted and in imminent danger, police have enough descriptive information about the abductor and when police believe putting out the alert is likely to get the child returned or the abductor captured.

The alerts are issued sparingly. In 2025 there was only one amber alert in B.C.

According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, people are not supposed to be able to turn off amber alerts, or other emergency alerts. But, setting your phone to “do not disturb” or airplane mode prevents emergency alerts from being delivered.

“As with all investigations, decisions are based on the totality of the circumstances known to police at the time, and the safe recovery of the child remains our primary concern,” Puri said.