Volunteers seek murder victims
CALGARY — More than 100 volunteers formed a search party that fanned out across Airdrie on Tuesday evening in the hopes of finding the bodies of a missing five-year-old boy and his grandparents.
It was among several signs of support that rippled across the Calgary area as the region dealt with the devastating news that police believe Alvin and Kathryn Liknes and their grandson, Nathan O’Brien, 5, were murdered.
Douglas Robert Garland, 54, was formally charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder and a single count of seconddegree murder after the trio vanished from the Likneses’ Calgary home two weeks ago. He’s expected to appear in court Wednesday.
Police had carried out an extensive search of an Airdrie acreage owned by Garland’s parents and surrounding properties, but police Chief Rick Hanson asked homeowners to continue looking for anything suspicious.
Many volunteers who gathered at an Airdrie park to begin scouring public lands across the city said Nathan’s story affected them deeply because they have children of their own.
“I couldn’t just sit on my hands and do nothing,” said Natalie Taylor, a mother of three and a certified dog trainer, who brought along her border collie Nitro, which is trained to find bodies.
Laura Cameron and Tara Murphy, who co-ordinated the search, had been strangers before Monday, when they met online and became united by their desire to help find Nathan and his grandparents. The idea mushroomed into a massive effort, with one organizer estimating roughly 160 volunteers were searching across the city.
“We’re both moms ourselves and we just want to find this little guy if we can, and we’ll keep searching until something shows up and tells us we should stop,” Cameron said.
Volunteers began looking under the strict provisions that if they found a body or anything suspicious, they were not to touch it, take photographs or talk about it, but instead immediately call police. Private properties were off-limits, but searchers were given flyers to hand out to homeowners, telling them to look for anything unusual.
A couple of hours after the Airdrie search party gathered, countless green balloons were released into the sky across Calgary and beyond to show the O’Brien and Liknes families just how many of their fellow residents support them.
More than 10,000 people had indicated in a Facebook group they would send up balloons at 8 p.m. in parks and backyards. Outside a community hall not far from the Likneses’ home, dozens of supporters gathered for the big release.
“I’m traumatized; I’m devastated,” said Tiffany Martinson, a mother of a fouryear-old daughter who had made hundreds of green ribbons to hand out in solidarity with the families, whom she doesn’t know.
“This means a lot for me to support this family and show them I’m here for them, in any way I can be.”
Earlier on Tuesday, ATB Financial set up a trust fund for the O’Brien family. It started when Lisa Wise, a Calgary woman, asked ATB CEO Dave Mowat on Twitter to set up an account for Rod and Jennifer O’Brien, Nathan’s parents.
Albertans can donate to the O’Brien family trust account at any ATB branch.
“People in our community just feel that they want to help this family,” said Craig Hampson, a Calgary executive with the bank. “People, especially in Calgary and in Alberta, our hearts just go out to this family. We’ve been following this story for so long. And we’re never surprised any more by the generosity of Albertans in times like this.”
Garland was first questioned more than a week ago, then held on unrelated identity theft charges. He was released from custody on Friday. His lawyer on those charges, Kim Ross, did not return messages seeking comment Monday.
Garland has ties to the Liknes family. His sister is in a relationship with a member of the Liknes family.
Police earlier said they were looking into whether there was a business connection to the missing persons file.
Alvin Liknes was involved in several oil and gas companies, including Winter Petroleum Ltd., which media reports say was forced to close a few weeks ago. The CBC quoted a police source as saying Garland and Alvin Liknes had a dispute over a patent for a gas device.
Court documents show Garland has a criminal record and mental issues.
In 2000, he was sentenced to 39 months for making amphetamines at his parents’ farm. Before he went to prison, he jumped bail and lived for several years in Vancouver using the identity of a dead person.