Missing child may have been spotted before mother’s death
Girl matching description seen with suitcase
ANY TIME CHILDREN ARE HARMED, THAT CHANGES THE GAME AND TAKES THINGS TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL FOR EVERYBODY; POLICE, COMMUNITY, EVEN OTHER PEOPLE IN JAIL DON’T TAKE KINDLY TO THAT SORT OF THING. — CALGARY POLICE INSP. DON COLEMAN
Calgary police say a girl matching the description of a missing five-year-old was spotted about nine hours before her mother was found dead and they have reason to hope the child is being cared for, wherever she is.
Insp. Don Coleman said witnesses saw a girl who looked like Taliyah Leigh Marsman on Monday at about 11:30 a.m. with a stocky, black male near where the dead woman’s vehicle was found. The girl was wearing red or pink boots with white polka dots and was carrying a reddishcoloured suitcase.
“We believe that is a good possibility that’s Taliyah and an unknown male, so we’re chasing down leads on that,” Coleman told a news conference Wednesday.
They were seen in the northwest Calgary neighbourhood where Taliyah lived with her mother, Sara Baillie, who was found dead that evening in their basement suite.
“If the girl seen in Panorama with the boots and the suitcase is, in fact, Taliyah, the suitcase is a promising indication that whoever she’s with has intentions of caring for her to some degree,” Coleman said.
“We’re hopeful that whoever does have her just maybe didn’t realize the situation or is trying to figure out how to resolve it.
“Whoever that is needs to be aware that any time children are harmed, that changes the game and takes things to a whole new level for everybody; police, community, even other people in jail don’t take kindly to that sort of thing.”
Investigators believe the two may have been walking away from the victim’s vehicle at the time.
Coleman said police have been able to narrow the focus of their investigation, but they don’t have a suspect identified yet.
The Amber Alert for Taliyah remains in effect. Police are asking members of the public to call 911 if they think they have spotted the little girl. Police have ruled Baillie’s death a homicide.
Police also said footage from a closed-circuit camera shows Baillie and her daughter at a Dairy Queen around suppertime Sunday. Baillie appears to be speaking with a man and a boy. Police say they want to identify the people in the footage and have posted still photos of the exchange on the City of Calgary’s website.
Earlier Wednesday, Taliyah’s father begged anyone who might know where his “baby” is to come forward.
“Please, it’s never too late to do the right thing! If you even think you might have seen something that could be a clue, let your local law enforcement know immediately,” Colin Marsman said in a statement released to the media through his friend, Gabriel Goree.
Marsman offered his condolences to Baillie’s family.
Court documents show he was charged last year with unlawful confinement and intimidation by threats against Baillie. The charges were later withdrawn and a peace bond was issued.
“Those who know me best, know the person and kind of father I am and know more than anything I just want my baby girl back,” Marsman said.
Coleman said Marsman is co-operating with their investigation.
Taliyah is described as a mixed-race child with a slim build, brown curly hair and blue eyes.
Outside the home where Baillie’s body was found, a growing tribute of cards, flowers and balloons continues to grow as people visit to show their support.
Wracked with sobs and struggling to walk, Tanya Kruger, who is Taliyah’s godmother, was among those who stopped by Wednesday.
The woman knelt on the rain-soaked lawn, piled with flower bouquets, stuffed animals and cards.
She said she met Baillie about 10 years ago working at Boston Pizza and the two became close.
“She had met Colin and gotten pregnant with Taliyah and she graciously asked me to be Taliyah’s godmom and, of course, I accepted,” said Kruger, whom Taliyah called “auntie.”
Kruger said she visited with Baillie and Taliyah last weekend.
“We played together, coloured together, and that’s the last time I spoke with them.”
She said she thinks whoever took Taliyah knew the little girl.
“We all, and her family all have one suspect in mind, not that I want to mention it. But that’s for the police to do their work and find out and I know that justice will be served,” she added.
“If anybody knows anything about her, please, she wants to come home. She needs to come home. She has a lot of people that love her and this little precious angel does not deserve this.”
A handwritten note left on the makeshift memorial, signed by Keisha Meas and encased in a plastic baggie to protect it from the rain, called Baillie a “beautiful, caring and strong” woman and thanked her for “giving us a home when no one else would.”