Murder suspect sighting in Cherryville

Starlee Speers - Astral Media Radio News (Vernon)

A Cherryville woman says, she's angry it took Police four days to respond to her tip about a possible sighting of Alan Schoenborn- the main suspect in the murders of three Merritt children. Wendy Mazu says, the man she believes was Schoenborn came into Franks General Store on Wednesday. She says, she phoned the tips line that night, and then she called the Lumby detachment on Thursday afternoon. Mazu says, police didn't interview her about the possible sighting until Saturday night. Meanwhile, Vernon RCMP Inspector Steve McVarnock says, they're trying to track what time the call was placed to the Lumby detachment so they can see who took the call. Police have since determined the man in Cherryville was not Allan Schoenborn.

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IAN BAILEY AND JUSTINE HUNTER Globe and Mail Update April 14, 2008

VANCOUVER AND VICTORIA — The RCMP, caught up in an intense manhunt for Allan Schoenborn – wanted in the stabbing deaths of his three children – are trying to figure out what caused a delay in investigators receiving a tip that he had been seen outside an Okanagan store. “We are looking into why the investigative team did not get the information about this tip in a timely fashion,” RCMP Constable Annie Linteau, speaking for the force, said Monday. Last Wednesday, staff at the Cherryville Emporium saw a man they believed to be Mr. Schoenborn, but police did not follow up on the tip until Saturday. “We certainly believe this to be an isolated incident,” Constable Linteau said of the delay. She said police have concluded that the man, who came to cash in 10 beer cans at the store, was not Mr. Schoenborn, who has not been seen since his three children were found dead in Merritt on April 6. “I can't really go into details,” she said. “All I can say is there are certain elements of this particular tip that lead investigators to believe it's not him.” Constable Linteau rejected suggestions that the trail has gone cold. “Look, we always persevere in any investigation,” she said. “We are still very active in this investigation.” But as investigators work their way through 250 tips, she conceded, “He could be anywhere.”