By The Canadian PressMERRITT, B.C. - RCMP say a B.C. father suspected in the triple slaying of his children has been apprehended.
Police in Merritt say Allan Schoenborn was located Wednesday morning on the outskirts of the B.C. Interior town. Schoenborn has been the subject of a police manhunt since the bodies of his three children were found in their home on April 6.
He is the prime suspect in the murders of Kaitlynne, 10, Max, eight, and five-year-old Cordon, whose bodies were discovered by their mother.
"At this time we're confirming that Mr. Schoenborn is in custody and he is alive," Const. Tracy Dunsmore of Merritt RCMP told a local radio station.
Dunsmore would not release any further details of Schoenborn's arrest.
Merritt RCMP say Schoenborn was found by a local resident and arrested around 10:30 a.m. just outside Merritt, a ranching community about 270 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
Corrina Smith said her boyfriend got a call from a friend whose father, local tracker Kim Robinson, found Schoenborn.
Smith said Schoenborn was found in the bush at Hamilton Hill, an area about 10 kilometres outside Merritt.
"They have him down on the highway now, last I heard," says Smith. "The bloodhounds got him, just about chewed his arm off. Kim caught him and tied him to a tree."
Smith says her boyfriend told here there are police all over the area now.
"He came home and told me I could unlock the doors," said the mother of twins.
She says she was terrified knowing Schoenborn was on the loose.
"I checked the closets and under the bed and everything before I go to bed at night."
Schoenborn hadn't been seen since the bodies of his children were discovered more than a week ago.
The case raised questions because RCMP did not inform the public for more than 20 hours that the children's father was the prime suspect and on the run.
Schoenborn was arrested at his children's school a few days before the killings and charged with uttering threats. A justice of the peace released him on bail, unaware of a peace bond that restricted Schoenborn's contact with his wife, Darcie Clarke.
Schoenborn was arrested two other times the week before the children's deaths.
A coroner's inquest has already been announced into the deaths.
Merritt Mayor David Laird says Schoenborn's arrest is a big relief.
"It's just great they've caught the person they were looking for and the community will be greatly relieved and (we'll) just wait until we have further details," he says.
"That's all we can do at this time."
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