Amber Alert for British Columbia boy

SPARWOOD, British Columbia, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A missing child Amber Alert was in effect Thursday for a 3-year-old Canadian boy who disappeared under unusual circumstances from his British Columbia home.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Kienen Hebert vanished from his home in Sparwood, near the Alberta border, Tuesday night, Postmedia News said.

Volunteers and police scoured the small community Wednesday along with sniffer dogs and helicopters.

The boy's parents told police they put their son to bed Tuesday evening and he was gone when they checked on him about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The RCMP said the blond-haired boy, who was wearing Scooby Doo boxer shorts, was known to walk in his sleep but had never left the home before.

The Mounties issued the Amber Alert Wednesday night and said 46-year-old Randall Hopley was a suspect in the boy's disappearance. Hopley has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault, sexual assault and at least a dozen break-ins, the report said.

The release didn't elaborate on why Hopley was a suspect. He is not related to the family, Global TV said.

Hopley was last seen driving a 1987 brown Toyota Camry with a British Columbia license plate 098 RAL, the RCMP said.