RCMP continue to try to dispel fear, rumours about abductions of B.C. women

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) — The fallout continues from viral social media posts warning women in B.C. about a rash of abductions or attempted abductions, with Coquitlam RCMP issuing another public statement to try to quell fears.

On Saturday, Mounties responded to a viral Tik Tok video and ensuing social media posts about how women are going missing, or are otherwise unsafe because of someone in a white van.

Police have received some backlash to their initial response, with some women saying they feel as though their safety concerns are being dismissed, according to Cpl. Michael McLaughlin who issued a second statement Sunday.

“The biggest thing we’re dealing with is a lot of confusion and some anger over the difference between police reports and rumours online,” he says.

“Let’s clarify any direct report to police is taken very seriously and we will investigate thoroughly. But someone who’s not a victim or a witness or wasn’t involved in anything at all and then spreads social media posts, that’s spreading a rumour, and these current rumours are spreading fear.”

Reports to police are different than posts shared on social media: Let us clarify how this leads to rumours of abduction attemptshttps://t.co/TFWAklkBbY pic.twitter.com/WSIuJ1UbZ4

— Coquitlam RCMP (@cqrcmp) February 8, 2021

McLaughlin says police issued their initial statement because they were fielding calls from people in the community who were terrified by what they were seeing and reading online.

“We’ve heard from people who are afraid to go for a jog or work a night shift or walk down the street. We want to assure people there’s no need for that kind of fright, if something comes up, where your safety is at risk we will let you know right away. That’s our job and our duty,” he says.

“People also have to realize that just because you read something on social media doesn’t make it a fact. We certainly want people to take reasonable precautions in their lives and to call us if anything unsafe is happening, but don’t start carrying weapons don’t start taking extreme measures.”

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He reiterates that the detachment is investigating one report of a “potential attempted abduction,” however he emphasizes there is nothing to suggest any increase in abductions or abduction attempts in the region.

“We had one report with similar circumstances to what we’ve seen online. We appreciate the person who called us had real emotions — fear is real. But we do have to investigate and we haven’t found any evidence to support abduction attempts, we don’t want people to get scared if there’s no evidence that something is happening,” he says.

He adds reports and rumours about white vans have been pervasive throughout his career.

“White vans have been reported to police for a variety of suspicious circumstances for a long time,” he says.

“A lot of the time there are other explanations for why that van might have been acting suspiciously. In a social media world though, we’re hearing more and more reports that are spread more and more widely without any fact-checking and that’s the problem here.”