It’s unclear why the RCMP took almost two months to release information to the public surrounding a report of a man allegedly exposing himself to a young girl near Keremeos.
RCMP issued a release last Friday morning about the incident that took place April 16 at about 5:40 p.m. Cpl. Dave Tyreman, a media relations officer for the RCMP, said the information given wasn’t so much a news release but a public notice in hopes of advancing the investigation.
Tyreman, who is based out of Prince George, works with investigating officers in several different RCMP branches and helps filter information out to the media and public.
He said he was not aware why investigating officers did not ask to issue a release earlier.
“We put this release out looking for information from the public to identify this individual,” he said, adding later in the interview with the Keremeos Review, “The most important thing is identifying this person so this doesn’t happen again.”
Although he couldn’t speak specifically to the details of the current case, Tyreman speculated that there are many reasons officers might release information several weeks or months after an incident.
One possibility is that the investigating officers have identified a suspect but need the public’s assistance in placing the person in the area including surveillance video and eye witness accounts.
Police also might issue a release weeks after the fact if a lead turns cold or if they think a person of interest might flee before being caught if the information is released earlier.
Cpl. Sean Hall, the acting commander of the Keremeos detachment, was unavailable to provide information about why the release was not issued earlier as he is currently working an unrelated case in Penticton. Although little was released about the incident, a lengthy description of the man and the vehicle was provided.
The man was described as being; light skin, possibly Caucasian, somewhere in his 20’s with short black hair, approximately one to two inches long, dark coloured eyes, approximately 57’ tall, slender build with muscular arms. RCMP said the man was described as having a facial skin condition possibly acne, a tattoo of a lizard or dragon on right upper arm, rings on every other finger on both hands, a piercing on left eyebrow. He was last seen wearing a gold bracelet on wrist, blue shorts and grey tank top, camouflage flip flops, a cigarette package sticking out of his pockets. The vehicle he was driving is believed to be a red single cab Ford pick-up truck, with possibly an Alberta licence plate on it and a trailer hitch on the back with a tennis ball covering.
If you have any information contact the local detachment at 250-499-5511 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
