Missing St. Catharines girls safe, father in custody abroad

Two missing St. Catharines girls are safe after their father, who is accused of taking them out of province during a custody dispute, was arrested in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

A Canada-wide warrant was issued on Sept. 5 for Clayton Misener, 46, of St. Catharines, about two weeks after Niagara Regional Police Service opened an investigation following the allegiated contravention of a court order. On Wednesday, he was arrested on the French-held islands that lie in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence off the southwest coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The two daughters, Paige Misener and Alexandra Misener, both 12 years old, have been located and are safe.

Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is only 20 km off Canada’s shores, but is actually a self-governing territory of France. It has a population of about 6,000.

Clayton Misener will be in custody there until he is turned over to the NRPS.

He faces two counts. One is abduction in contravention of a custody order, contrary to section 282(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada. The other is disobeying an order of the court, contrary to section 127(1) of the Criminal Code.