Police release photo of person of interest in Stanley Park attempted abduction

Do you recognize this man? Vancouver Police have released a photo of a man who is a person of interest in Friday morning’s attempted abduction of an eight-year-old girl in Stanley Park.

According to a police, at about 8:30 a.m. the young girl was allegedly grabbed from behind by a man near the Coal Harbour seawall, on the northern foot of Denman Street.

The man attempted to drag the girl away, but was unable to do so after being confronted by the the child’s parents. He then ran away and was last seen near the pedestrian underpass to Lost Lagoon.

The incident was reported to police, which led to a major manhunt for the suspect in the park. This included the use of officers on foot and horseback, the K9 dog unit and the Vancouver Park Board’s Park Rangers. All entrances and exits to the park were also stationed by police, but the man was not sighted.

It is believed that the man was lingering around the area before the attack occurred.

Video footage gathered by police shows a person of interest who may be connected to the incident.

Police have described the individual as a Caucasian male between the ages of 20 to 30 and approximately 5’8″ tall with a thin build, dark hair and a bushy goatee. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a green and black camouflage hoodie, green pants, an orange and yellow construction vest, and white sunglasses or goggles on his head.

It should be noted that the term ‘person of interest’ is different than ‘suspect’. The term is used when police are seeking the person to cooperate with an investigation, for reasons that include having information that would assist investigators or having physical characteristics that require examination.

Anyone who knows the identity of this man or has any information that could help investigators is asked to call the Vancouver Police at 604-717-0604 or Crime Stoppers’ anonymous hotline at 1-800-222-8477.

Image: Vancouver Police Department