AMBER alert leads to arrest in Whitefish

A Canadian man was arrested in a vehicle in Whitefish on Friday, Nov. 16, at about 6:45 a.m. and charged in connection with a child abduction case that originated in British Columbia.

Robert Barnett was the subject of an AMBER alert issued by Canadian authorities on Nov. 15 after he allegedly abducted his three-year-old son during a supervised visitation in Fernie, B.C.

Barnett crossed into the U.S. at the Port of Roosville near Eureka. According to Flathead County Undersheriff Dave Leib, Barnett approached a man at the Pin & Cue bowling alley in Whitefish to ask for money and use of the man’s cell phone.

During their conversation, the man agreed to buy Barnett breakfast and told him he could sleep in his car outside the man’s house. When the man became aware that Barnett was the subject of the AMBER Alert broadcast throughout Montana, he called 911.

“The AMBER Alert program was designed to allow law enforcement to get the word out quickly to neighboring communities and to involve as many officers and citizens as possible in the search effort,” Leib said. “That’s exactly what happened in this case.”

Barnett was arrested without incident by Whitefish police officers and the Flathead County deputies. The three-year-old boy was found unharmed and taken into the custody of the Division of Family Services in Kalispell.

During an appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, in Great Falls on Nov. 19, Barnett requested extradition and bail hearings. He is being detained.