Boy abducted in Fernie found OK in Whitefish

A Canadian man was arrested in Whitefish after allegedly abducting his three-year-old son during a supervised visitation in Fernie, B.C.

Robert Barnett, 39, crossed into the U.S. at the Port of Roosville near Eureka. He was arrested Friday in Whitefish at 6:45 a.m.

According Lieutenant Bridger Kelch with the Whitefish Police Department, on Thursday evening, Barnett approached Whitefish resident Phillip Bruinsma at the Pin and Cue bowling alley to ask for gas and food and to use his cell phone.

Bruinsma offered to buy Barnett breakfast and gas in the morning and told Barnett that he could sleep in his car outside of his residence for the night.

After seeing an AMBER Alert about the missing boy, Bruinsma called 9-1-1 and reported that he believed Barnett and his child were sleeping in the stolen Subaru outside his residence.

“The AMBER Alert program was designed to allow law enforcement to get the word out quickly to neighboring communities and to involve as many officers and citizens as possible in the search effort. That’s exactly what happened in this case,” said Dave Leib with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.

Barnett was arrested without incident by Whitefish Police officers and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office. He is being held at the Flathead County Detention Center pending further investigation. The three-year-old boy was found unharmed and taken into the custody of the Division of Family Services in Kalispell.

“Thanks to the information that was broadcast by the Montana Department of Justice last night and an alert Whitefish resident, the suspect is in custody and the abducted child is now safe,” Attorney General Steve Bullock said.