19-year-old faces multiple charges following Sask. Amber Alert, child abduction

A 19-year-old man from North Battlefordis facing a raft of chargesafter a girl's overnight disappearance sparked an Amber Alert and a frantic search throughout the province last Sunday.

Johnathan Ryann Gunvillehas been charged with the abduction of a person under 14, unlawful confinement, abandoning a child, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, evading a police officer anddriving while disqualified. He's also facing eight counts of failure to comply with a probation order.

These charges stem from the Sept. 16 Amber Alert, and fromtwo other vehicle thefts on Sept. 19 and 20.

Police said they had reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance footage from more than 200 businesses, to establish where the stolen vehicle had gone after its theft.

Amber Alert

The Amber Alert was sent out after a SUV was stolenwith a six-year-old girlinside. The girl'smother had briefly gone inside a strip mall in North Battleford on Sunday evening when the vehicle was allegedly stolen.

The girl's parents hadissued an emotional video plea for her return. They said their daughter was autistic and required regular doses of medication to control her epilepsy.

Police and dozens of volunteers scoured the streets of the Battlefords,before the six-year-oldwas found at an industrial park two kilometres from the strip mall on Monday morningalmost 12 hours after her initial disappearance.

Gunville has been remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in North Battleford Provincial Court on Monday, Sept. 24, at 9:30 a.m.

The SaskatchewanRCMPMajor Crimes Unit North made the arrest, with assistance from NorthBattlefordRCMP, NorthBattlefordProvincial General Investigative Section (GIS), NorthBattlefordMunicipalGIS, and Saskatoon ProvincialGIS.