Police searching for 2 men they say abducted woman, prompting Amber Alert

A blind, non-verbal woman who was abducted Thursday night is safe and unharmed, but police were still searching Friday for two men accused of stealing the vehicle she was in.

An Amber Alert was issued at 8:27 p.m. after 40-year-old Cindy Tin was taken in a minivan near 118 Avenue and 91 Street about an hour earlier.

Police said the vehicle is a white 2013 Toyota Sienna and her caregiver left Tin inside, seated in a wheelchair, while they briefly went into a store.

She was found "safe and unharmed" in Fort Saskatchewan about a half an hour after the alert by an off-duty RCMP officer who saw it, police announced Friday.

Tin was taken to hospital by paramedics "purely for precautionary reasons," police said, and the alert was cancelled just after 9 p.m.

An RCMP police dog was called to the scene but the suspects were not found.

"We’re extremely grateful to the community and our RCMP partners who located the stolen vehicle and helped bring this woman back to her family safe and unharmed," said Staff Sgt. Andrew Larson.

"We continue to look for any information that will lead us to these two male suspects."

Larson said the Amber Alert was "essential" to helping find Tin. He encouraged everyone to make sure they lock the doors to any running vehicles.

He said it wasn't yet clear if the suspects knew the woman was in the van or not and wouldn't speculate on whether they were trying to abduct her or just steal the vehicle.

The leader of the Alberta Avenue Business Association said he heard about the case before the Amber Alert because staff at local businesses were calling around, trying to help police find Tin.

He called it a "great relief" when he learned she was found and not harmed.

"It was great to hear that the businesses were already working with the police to find this person," Erick Estrada told CTV News Edmonton.

"I'm extremely proud that the businesses are very community-oriented and they do care about everyone. I think these kinds of incidents could happen everywhere, but not everywhere you would have businesses getting together to support the community."

Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa