Kienan Hebert
Five days after 3-year-old Kienan Hebert was taken from his bed in Sparwood, British Columbia, the boy was put back safely into that same house. Seemingly, nobody knew about either entry into the residence.
With the family staying nearby with friends ever since the abduction, the Hebert home was empty when Kienan was returned at 3 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. The alleged kidnapper, Randall Hopley, called the police to let them know the boy was home safe and Kienan’s father, Paul, found him sleeping on an oversized chair in the living room wrapped in blankets. Authorities say the boy was “virtually unharmed.”
The police say they “facilitated” the safe return of Kienan, but wouldn’t provide specifics or say how the boy got into a secured crime scene without police knowing. Paul wasn’t concerned about that, however. He said the doors were left unlocked and he wanted Kienan returned to a safe place, so the family home was a good fit.
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Kienan was discovered missing at 8 a.m. on Sept. 7 by his parents and an organized search kicked off within an hour. Throughout the day, the search intensified and an Amber Alert went out in B.C. and Alberta. The next day, news of Hopley’s criminal past, including a 1985 sexual assault and a 2007 incident that didn’t include charges, and the fact that he hadn’t been seen since Tuesday surfaced and the man’s mother came forward on Friday pleading for him to turn himself in as a person of interest.
As reports flooded in on Friday of possible sightings, the search for Kienan extended far beyond the small B.C. town, including on a ferry bound for Vancouver Island and during roadblocks set up in Dawson Creek, B.C. On Saturday, the Hebert family asked the abductor to return Kienan.
Hopley, or whomever was responsible for the kidnapping, must have listened, because the child was placed unharmed back into the home early Sunday morning. Canadian police then found Hopley, 46, on Tuesday hiding in an Alberta gravel pit with the help of a canine unit near the B.C.-Alberta border. With Hopley being returned to B.C., authorities weren’t ruling out an accomplice taking part in the crime and remained on the search for a second criminal.
Even before Hopley was found, Paul said he had forgiven the man and was working to help his family heal, but noted that more than his family needed fixing. Paul chastised the justice system on Monday, asking why judges can’t be held responsible for malpractice for not keeping people like Hopley behind bars. Hopley, for now, is locked up, but his fate is hopefully the only unknown left in the case.
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Tim Newcomb is a contributor for TIME. Find him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.