Officers who entered Mount Moriah home without permission did nothing wrong, says RCMP spokesperson

The two police officers who entered a Mount Moriah home without permission early Sunday morning acted within their authority, said an RCMP spokesperson in a Friday afternoon news conference.

While speaking with reporters on Friday, Cpl. Jolene Garland said the officers' "heads and hearts were in the right place." 

"Police had information that a 17-year-old girl was at risk and possibly in danger. Had our police officers walked away and she had been located inside that home — suffering harm due to our inattention or inaction — I think we'd be having a very different conversation right now," said Garland. 

Cortney Pike, the owner of the western Newfoundland home, says she woke around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning to find two RCMP officers in her home. They had entered the house without permission and gone into her 11-year-old daughter's bedroom, shining a light in her face and questioning her about a missing 17-year-old girl.

The missing girl was not inside the home, and Pike has repeatedly said she doesn't know her. She says no one lives inside her home except for herself, her partner and three children.

"That girl has never been in my house. We don't know who she is. Our children are 13 and 11 and nine. They don't even know who she is," Pike said in a phone interview after the news conference on Friday. "I've never seen that girl before in my entire life."

Garland said senior RCMP management conducted a "detailed review" of the investigation into the missing 17-year-old, and found that the officers did nothing wrong by entering the home without permission. However, she said the RCMP did not interview or speak with the family who resides in the home as part of that review.

Garland said the RCMP believed the 17-year-old girl was inside the home based on information provided by her caregiver.

"The complainant said that the youth was picked up in front of that residence earlier on Saturday and was known to frequent that specific home," Garland said. 

Garland said the two officers went to the home at 4:38 a.m. based on an address provided by the complainant, as well as a description of the home and the vehicle parked in the driveway.

"Based on the totality of the information that was provided, officers attended the residence, knocked on the doors and windows, yelled out, identifying themselves as police and calling out the missing youth's name," she said.

Pike has repeatedly pushed back against the assertion, and did so again on Friday.

"My response to that is it's a lie," Pike said.

"I'm a mom. I hear everything. The moment my child was born, I've never slept through the night again. I hear every little noise. There's no possible way in the world that they knocked on my door."