Canada Post employee helps find missing nude toddler

PRINCE GEORGE — The RCMP are thanking a Canada Post employee for helping solve a case involving a nude toddler who had gone missing.

The three-year-old boy was wearing nothing but rubber boots when he was found in Prince George on a cold Wednesday morning.

With temperatures in Prince George barely nudging zero, the child was spotted in the Spruceland neighbourhood on the city’s west side, RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said Thursday.

The matter was turned over to child-welfare authorities. There was no word on the boy’s condition, but no charges will be laid.

Douglass said an RCMP tracking dog was brought in to trace the youngster’s steps, but the animal had lost the trail until the postal worker noticed some snowy, overlooked footsteps.

“We were able to track them back. I’m sure, eventually, we probably would have got there, but the employee certainly sped things up, which was nice,” Douglass said.

He said the child’s chilly outing might have occurred despite best efforts at supervision.

“I know how kids move, and sometimes they just slip by.”