Amber Alert: Police find man after missing children incident near Mackay
A man police wanted to talk to about the disappearance of four children from a home near Mackay last week is in custody. Read about the charges.
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UPDATE: A man police wanted to talk to about the disappearance of four children from The Leap, north of Mackay, last week is now in custody.
An Amber Alert was issued on Thursday after the four children, aged eight to three, went missing from their home.
The children were located safe and well the next day.
Joshua Carter, 28, was arrested on Tuesday following the execution of a search warrant at a property at The Leap.
He has since been charged with possessing dangerous drugs, possessing drug utensils and other charges.
He has not been charged with any offence in relation to taking the children.
The man has been denied police bail and is expected to appear in Mackay Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Investigations are ongoing.
Officers last week warned the community not to approach Mr Carter and urged him to hand himself into police after the children were found safe.
Mackay Inspector Regan Draheim said the children, who are all siblings aged 8, 7, 4 and 3, had been dropped off at the same Maraju-Yakapari Rd address about 9.20am Friday where they had been taken about 11.30am Thursday, sparking an Amber Alert about six hours later.
It is understood this was the first indication police had that the children were safe and well.
Inspector Draheim said investigations suggested the delay was because the risk to the children was considered “not to be as great early on”.
“Once we were able to gain some more information we then made the decision to issue the Amber Alert,” he said.
“When we made inquiries that indicated the children might not be in the area where they were initially thought to be, that was when we decided there was probably a greater risk.”
He praised the community and media for their support and providing information “which obviously led to a safe outcome”.
“It’s likely that this had some effect on the 28-year-old man’s decision to return the children,” Inspector Draheim said.
He confirmed the man was known to the children, but would not say if there was a familial link.
Inspector Draheim said Mr Carter was known to police.
“We don’t believe there’s an ongoing threat to the public,” he said.
“We encourage him to come forward and resolve this as soon as possible.”
It is understood Mr Carter was in the same white Nissan Patrol 4WD bearing Queensland Registration 063BC9 from the Amber Alert.
Inspector Draheim said police had received a number of public tip-offs but it was not that information that led to the children’s recovery.
The children were returned to their home.
Inspector Draheim would not say who returned the children or who police would speak to at a later time about the incident.
Investigations into this matter are ongoing. No charges have been laid.
Mr Carter is described as being caucasian in appearance with a solid build.
He is about 175cm tall with a shaved head and full, bushy beard with multiple face and body tattoos, including batman ‘joker’ themed facial tattoos.
EARLIER: Police found the four young children who were the subject of an ‘amber alert’ after they disappeared from a property near Mackay on Thursday.
In a statement, police said the children were “safe and well”.
Earlier police said the children, aged 8, 7, 4 and 3 may be at significant risk after they were taken from a property at The Leap, north of Mackay about 11.30am Thursday.
Multiple police crews were at the scene of the alleged abduction in The Leap on Friday morning.
Police Inspector Regan Draheim confirmed on Friday there had been “concerns for their (the children’s) safety.”
He said police had received a number of calls with potential sightings of both the car and the missing children and officers were “continuing to search locally”.
“We have no further information about their location,” he said.
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