REGINA - Investigators have located both Sarah Jackson and Michael Gordon Jackson.
They were found 1,300 kilometres away from Regina in Vernon, B.C., around noon on Feb. 24, according to Sgt. Maj. Darryl Milo, who delivered an update on the case during a press conference held at RCMP Headquarters in Regina on Thursday.
Vernon RCMP officers located Michael Gordon Jackson and Sarah Jackson in a vehicle parked outside of a business in Vernon. No one else was with them.
Sarah is safe and was to be reunited with her mother, Mariecar Jackson, in Regina on Thursday. Michael was arrested without incident and remains in police custody in Vernon. He is expected to be transferred to Regina next week for court proceedings.
“Mariecar has been waiting for this day, and that phone call, from our investigators since last year. She would like to thank everyone who played a role in helping locate her daughter. This includes every single person who took a moment to listen to her pleas released today and last week. Those that shared these videos and kept the conversation about her daughter going,” Milo said.
“Mariecar has asked for privacy at this time as she understandably takes some time to reunite with Sarah.”
He added that they received a lot of help, tips and information from the public from all over, which significantly helped the work of the police officers and the investigation.
“We can say that we received tips and information from multiple provinces. The first video we released on February 15 reached over 440,000 people and was shared over 13,000 times. In the first hour after posting the second video today the video was shared 177 times and reached over 4,500 people,” Milo said.
“To the public and our news partners – those here today, thank you. You played a role in assisting us with this investigation.”
At this time, no additional people were charged in connection with the case, but Milo said that the situation may change down the road.
“Anyone who was aiding or assisting Michael Gordon Jackson could be charged with the same offence or possibly other related offenses,” Milo said.
While many details about the role of the public’s tips in locating the Michael and Sarah over the course of the investigation, which lasted for about three months, couldn’t be revealed at this time as the investigation continues, Milo noted that Thursday marked the most important point in this case.
“When Saskatchewan RCMP investigators stand at this podium, often times we are not speaking about good news. This is the nature of the work we do. Today, we achieved the outcome we have been diligently working towards: reuniting Sarah with her mom,” Milo said.
“We want to thank the many police officers from multiple police agencies and in multiple provinces who assisted with this investigation since November of last year.
“While we cannot go into detail about the specific steps our officers need to take, we want to say this investigation is not over.
“The return of Sarah to her mother is very new and the investigation is ongoing.”
The investigation covered several provinces and numerous police forces within the RCMP and outside the agency were working side by side. Milo said “there was no limit to where we looked for both Sarah and Michael.”
On Jan. 21, the Saskatchewan RCMP charged Jackson with one count of abduction in contravention of a custody or a parenting order, contrary to Section 282(1) of the Criminal Code, and they obtained Canada-wide warrant for his arrest.
Sarah’s mother has full custody of her.
Back in early January, Michael Gordon Jackson made an appearance on Live with Laura-Lynn on Rumble where he was talking with the host about him keeping Sarah because he didn’t want her to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Sarah’s parents were given joint custody of her in 2019, but the mother had final decision-making power, including decisions on health-care procedures. Mariecar received full custody of Sarah in January of this year.
The Estevan Mercury and Sasktoday.ca will follow the ongoing investigation and have more details as they become available.
