Two people who fled an Ontario psychiatric hospital have been spotted in Nova Scotia.
Police are searching for Joseph Pepin, 39, and Cara Duval, 37, who they say could be dangerous.
The two patients, who were reported missing from the North Bay Regional Health Centre on Jan. 22, were seen on Monday in Truro, N.S., following reported sightings in New Brunswick.
The RCMP and police from North Bay, Ont. are working together as the hunt for the pair continues.
“(North Bay police) told us that these two people could be violent, so they said people should use caution, not approach them if they see them and immediately call the police, call 9-1-1 if you do see them,” said New Brunswick RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Chantal Farrah.
Pepin and Duval — who is also known as Cara Donnelly — were spotted at a library in Truro, where they were seen in security camera footage, and at another location as they sought help getting an apartment.
Prior to these sightings, the pair were spotted in Doaktown, N.B., where they visited a motel on Sunday looking for a place to say.
The owner said it was the woman, Duval, who did most of the talking, telling him the couple was in the process of relocating.
The owner, Clarence Taylor, said Sunday wasn’t the first time he encountered the pair.
They visited his motel last week, but he had no vacancies, Taylor said.
Taylor said he notified police the couple would return on Sunday, but it appears the RCMP missed that opportunity.
“When we got the call on Sunday that the couple was in fact in Doaktown, on Main Street, we immediately dispatched officers,” said Farrah.
“Now, unfortunately, by the time (the officers) got there, they had left,” she said.
As for the couple’s past and potential for violence, residents throughout the region feel police should be saying more.
“We should know what type of danger we're inactually,” said Doaktown resident Gilbert Thibodeau.
“Like, what can they do? What did they do? What were they in there for?”
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell
