Young girls in pyjamas following hand-draw map safe thanks to Burnaby bus driver
Posted August 15, 2018 5:23 pm.
Last Updated August 16, 2018 6:54 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Transit Police say a bus driver is to thank for two young girls in Burnaby making it home safely after the pair snuck out to go on an “adventure.”
The driver, Ed Boleak, called police Monday night when he saw the 10 and 12-year-old board his bus just before midnight while wearing their pyjamas.
The pair had been having a sleepover when they snuck out. The girls had decided to go grab some food and had made a hand-drawn map of their plan.
“They had made a little map of where they had planned to venture off to and what they had planned to do,” says Sgt. Clint Hampton with Transit Police.
Hampton says this is a perfect example of “if you see something, say something.”
“The bus operator, he recognized ‘hey this is out of place, these two young girls shouldn’t be out by themselves this time of night’ and he contacted us. And thankfully he did and we were able to you know facilitate them reuniting with their parents.”
“I’m glad to hear that it’s all good, but this is something we all would have done,” Boleak told police.
He says the parents had already organized a search party and had filed a missing persons report with Burnaby RCMP.
“You can imagine that you know, this is almost midnight on a Monday and of course they are pulling their neighbours together and everything else and they’re out on foot looking for these girls,” he says. “So yes, very worried.”
This should serve as a reminder for parents to make sure their children are aware of the dangers of sneaking and taking transit alone, Hampton adds.
“It’s a feel-good story but of course there’s an element that we have to be aware of and that’s the risk for two young people to be out on the transit system alone,” he says.
