HALIFAX -- A girl that was thought to have been abducted has called police in Summerside, P.E.I., to tell them the situation was a "misunderstanding."
"After this evening’s updated media release, the female involved contacted police to report that she believed she was the person police were looking for and that this incident was a misunderstanding,” the Summerside Police Service said in a news release.
"The person involved told police she had seen the photo of the vehicle of interest posted on social media platforms and said she was a passenger in that vehicle and yelled out the window to a friend in another vehicle, jokingly saying she had been kidnapped."
Police say that everyone involved knows each other and they were able to confirm the details of the girl's version of events and "are satisfied that she is the person involved and that there was no abduction," the release said.
Police also said the girl hadn't intended to cause any alarm to the public.
The Summerside Police Service had received a call just before noon Monday from a witness who reported that they had seen a girl, who they believed was about 12 years old, yelling from the window of a car that she had been kidnapped.
The vehicle was travelling east on Walker Avenue from Granville Street toward MacEwan Road at the time.
Prince Edward Island residents received an Amber Alert from the provincial Emergency Measures Organization after 1 p.m.
Sgt. Jason Blacquiere said police were treating it as a "legitimate abduction."
Staff at points of entry and exit from the province were aware of the ongoing incident and the police force's general patrol section and major crime unit were working the case, Blacquiere said.
Other policing agencies on the Island were aware and taking calls from the public related to the incident, including many sightings of cars matching the description.
With files from The Canadian Press.
