An alleged attack on a woman in her mid-20s that had residents of Edson on edge, following the murder of Emily Stauffer, never happened according to police.
The young woman reported that she had been accosted while on a walking path in east Edson Tuesday afternoon.
She gave a detailed description of the alleged attacker; a white man in his mid-20s, who had a muscular build, dirty hands and smelled of body odour and cologne, but police say the incident has no "reasonable grounds."
In a release RCMP say, "investigators reached the conclusion that the allegations of the second walking path incident are unfounded." Police are no longer seeking the alleged suspect.
The news of the hoax has Edson residents fuming.
"It makes me angry, but it makes me disgusted to think that someone would make a joke of something so serious," said resident Karin Chouinard.
The mayor of Edson shares in the frustration.
"You're angry at this person because they added extra fear to this town, unneeded fear," said Mayor Greg Pasychny.
The news of the alleged second attack immediately put residents of Edson on edge; many residents bought pepper spray, others changed the lock on their doors and some didn't feel safe leaving their homes.
"After that one the whole town basically shut down, everyone's scare, hiding, neverous, you know, you're guarding your kids," said Jean Chouinard.
Edson schools were put on lockdown Tuesday following the alleged incident. The following day school officials enacted a closed-campus policy, where students could not leave school property after they had been dropped off.
"It was scary to think that this could keep happening and it was a serial attacker," said Lauryn Throndson.
The report of the alleged incident which never took place, not only effected residents, but also took away valuable resources from Emily Stauffer's murder investigation.
"The first 24, 48, 72 hours are critical and this diversion really brought very scare resources from the primary to the secondary," said criminologist Bill Pitt.
While residents are upset, some say they will sleep easier knowing claims of a serial attacker are not true.
"Maybe it's just an isolated incident, and we all don't have to live in fear," said Delila Brady.
Mounties say the woman who made the claims will not be charged for public mischief. "Investigators are aware of the circumstances that, accompanied with the events of Stauffer's death, may have has a direct and unfortunate influence that resulted in this second incident being reported to authorities," said RCMP in a media release.
RCMP ask those who know the young woman who made the claims not to chastise or se. threaten her.
Police will continue to focus their efforts on finding the person responsible for the murder of Emily Stauffer.
They ask anyone with information to call Edson RCMP at 780-723-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
With files from Scott Roberts
