Moncton Walmart staff recognized by RCMP for role in locating abducted Florida boy

Four Moncton Walmart employees were recognized Wednesday by RCMP for their role in the safe return of an abducted Florida boy.

Codiac Regional RCMP members gave Ajay Gabani, Sarthak Sojitra, Michele Lewis and Natasha Keeling certificates of recognition at the Plaza Boulevard store Wednesday. 

Acting Supt. Benoit Jolette said the certificates are normally given to RCMP members to mark a job done well. Jolette said he felt the store staff should be recognized. 

“Because without their actions, that young boy could still be out there somewhere, missing from his family,” Jolette said. 

Located thousands of kms from home

The event revealed more details about how the six-year-old boy from Miami was located thousands of kilometres away from where he had disappeared about two months earlier.

The boy’s parents were separated and the boy wasn’t returned after a scheduled visit with his father on Aug. 27.

Police have alleged his father and grandmother kidnapped the boy and crossed into Canada. 

An abandoned vehicle near the Maine-New Brunswick border was the last sign of the three until Oct. 30.

CBC News is not naming the child or the family members because he is no longer a missing person. 

That October morning, Ajay Gabani was working near the front entrance when he says two customers approached to say they believed the father and son were in the store. 

Gabani told reporters he looked up photos of them from news coverage. 

“I was sure that he’s the right person in the news,” Gabani said. 

The father was in the electronics section looking to buy a phone SIM card. 

Sarthak Sojitra, who was talking to the father at the counter, said the man hesitated when asked his name for the store’s file and had to look at his phone when asked his address. 

Team effort

Once they were sure the people in the store were the missing boy and his father, the police were called. 

Assistant manager Michele Lewis said staff stayed near them to keep an eye on their movements. 

“It was quite the team effort,” Natasha Keeling, another manager at the store, said.

Police arrived not long after the call. The father was arrested at the store. The child’s grandmother was arrested later near Saint-Paul, about 30 kilometres northwest of Moncton. 

Both have been extradited to the United States and face charges related to the alleged abduction. The boy was reunited with his mother on Nov. 2. 

Lewis watched a video of that reunion, calling it surreal to see. 

“It was wonderful,” Lewis said. “[I was] so happy for the both of them.”

Jolette said police don’t have the names of the customers who originally alerted the store staff.