Deceased/Not Found Canada - Alvin, 66, & Kathy Liknes, 53, Nathan O'Brien, 5, Calgary, 30 June 2014 - #1

[Wondergirl]

An AMBER Alert was issued at 5:00 p.m. Monday for the missing five-year-old.

Police are asking anyone with information about this case to call 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers anonymously using any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: calgarycrimestoppers.org
TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637


Read more: http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/amber-ale...year-old-from-calgary-1.1893711#ixzz36C49X1xg

 

[LaborDayRN]

Wording is odd in this early news release



http://www.inews880.com/2014/06/30/ambert-alert-for-missing-calgary-boy/

I agree. That is strange wording......

 

[Wondergirl]

Police cordoned off a wide area of the inner city community Monday, taping off streets from foot and vehicle traffic for a couple of blocks in every direction from the home. Officers walked the streets within the perimeter as the police helicopter circled overhead.

Police also called the medical examiner early in the evening -- though details as to the medical examiner's involvement in the investigation was not divulged, police did say that it was not due to the discovery of a body or bodies.

Neighbour Matt Dawe called the situation bizarre -- he saw Alvin and Nathan at the playground the day before and everything seemed fine.

"He seemed relaxed and his grandson was playing," Dawe said. "You wouldn't have batted an eyelid."

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2014/06/20140630-192745.html

 

[Canadianmom2three]

Looks like KL's FB was active 12 hours ago, that is 12pm - 2 hours after the daughter came to their house and found them missing - anyone else notice that?

 

[HulaMum]

-Did the Liknes have an alarm system?

-Where are their phones? When were they last used?

-Who has security cameras in that area?

-Were the beds slept in?

-Did Nathan normally sleep with his grandparents or did he have his own room?

-Was the door locked upon arrival?

-What was the motive for this crime?

-Was the family in any financial difficulty?

-How often was Nathan at his grandparents house?

Who has security cameras? There must be several very close by. The street where this house is located runs into MacLeod Trail which is loaded with commercial properties. On another note, this very major road also provides quick access to our busiest highway, Hwy 2 (Deerfoot), which can take you right out of the city.

 

[HulaMum]

Looks like KL's FB was active 12 hours ago, that is 12pm - 2 hours after the daughter came to their house and found them missing - anyone else notice that?

There was some discussion about this on the Calgary Police Services FB posts earlier tonight. We were wondering if they were automatic updates from those Facebook games?

 

[Canadianmom2three]

There was some discussion about this on the Calgary Police Services FB posts earlier tonight. We were wondering if they were automatic updates from those Facebook games?

Maybe, but looks like she was playing puzzles? Maybe an automatic update.

 

[HulaMum]

I'd sure like to hear more from:

The neighbour who said the Liknes were moving to Mexico.
The neighbour who said he saw grandpa with Nathan at the park (what time, exactly).
The relative who saw fit to drive over to the house to see what was going on just because the Liknes didn't an answer their phone.

 

[Wondergirl]

They may have went to Mazatlan in February.

 

[HulaMum]

They may have went to Mazatlan in February.

You know, it just seems that, when your neighbour says they are leaving Calgary to move to Mexico and you are having a friendly conversation about this topic, you end up with more info - when? did you buy property? Will you be able to work there? How often will you see family/grandkids? and you share in their excitement and wish them well. But you certainly end up with more info than just "They are moving to Mexico."

(maybe I am just a nosy neighbour!)

 

[LayzeeDayzee]

It doesn't look fancy but it is a desirable area. Just looking through mls, I hit $500k before I even got out of the condo listings. I would guess at least $750k for this home, depending on the condition and size of course. It's a well-established area with very close access to downtown.

House across the street currently for sale, asking price of $799,900 and much smaller house: http://www.remax.ca/ab/calgary-real-estate/na-122-38a-av-sw-na-wp_id97001015-lst

 

[craftybatchy]

Wording is odd in this early news release



http://www.inews880.com/2014/06/30/ambert-alert-for-missing-calgary-boy/

And what about Grandma ?

Were these the paternal or maternal grandparents ?

We the child's parents married, separated, or divorced ?

 

[GinaSeikwa]

Surely they have checked flight manifests out of YYC? There are several late night flights out of the airport.

 

[otto]

LOL it is beautiful country but the mosquitos can carry you to their den. You may be right that they did not want neighbours to know of their plans.

... and I was thinking about the horse flies!

 

[otto]

From 10pm to 10am is a pretty narrow window of time. Surely some neighbor had to have heard or seen something.....a noise, something loud that woke them up at a certain time (even if they weren't sure what it was), a vehicle door shut, a car starting, headlights, lights turned on in the house, something.

Sunrise in Calgary @ this time of year is 5:25am so IMO whatever happened to them happened between midnight and 5am. I say midnight because lots of people are still awake/watching the 11pm news. Lots probably took today off work as tomorrow is a holiday here (to make it a true long weekend) though obviously not everyone would be able to.

I'd assume they'd have brought in tracking dogs?

There are obviously a lot of details, pretty key details, that we're just not privy to. My guess/gut says, based on the limited details that have been released (and reading between the lines), there were signs of violence in the home (blood etc) and that's why the homicide team was called in so quickly.

Sure hope LE are investigating neighbors as well.

Stanley Park and the Elbow River would be one place to look, especially if no vehicle was involved. Perhaps the person or people that did this had their own vehicle ... which is why bank accounts need to be checked. Were they in a vehicle, or were they robbed and taken into the park. I suspect that there was a lot of cash in the house, and more in the bank.

I agree that there were signs of violence in the house and that the only reason that the medical examiner was in the house was to document blood evidence. Police stated that they always call in the homicide unit when there is a missing person, as that is the group that investigates missing person, so nothing should be read into the fact that the homicide unit was involved. There are missing persons, and that's the unit that works "missing persons".

 

[otto]

October 2012 Google Streetview screenshot of the Liknes home at 123 38a Ave. SW, Calgary, AB

https://www.google.com/maps/place/1...0x5371704024d02deb:0xed088976bc1f90d8!6m1!1e1

A fifty foot lot in Parkhill is worth a pretty penny. It looks to be one of the few lots that wasn't split into infills on 25 foot lots.

 

[otto]

Those neighbors are pretty darn close, for no one to hear or see anything...

It was probably a home invasion, or someone remained in the home after the estate sale ended. There may not have been any loud noises. There could have been sounds that caused people to wake up and wonder why they are awake. Anyone that experienced that should probably make note of the time and report it to police. If a few neighbours found themselves awake for no reason, it's possible that something woke them up, they don't know what it was, but they do know what time it was, and that will help police pinpoint the time of the incident. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't shortly after the family went to bed. As a home invasion, or hiding in wait invasion (estate sale open house), it could have been a blitz attack where everyone was caught off guard, they were injured during the attack, there is some blood evidence requiring the medical examiner, the child was taken, something is really wrong with what happened here. It's wrong like the murdered couple that was staged as an accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Neither make any sense right now.

 

[Elainera]

Uh what a puzzling case! I'm worried for them, especially for little Nathan.

If this was a home intrusion/robbery, why would the perp march the whole family out of the house and (presumably) into a vehicle? It makes no sense. If they were worried they might be identified they could have killed them right there in the house. Taking them away is far more risky especially in the night/early morning when neighbors surely should have heard a vehicle coming and going, voices, and probably Nathan crying.

I don't get it that nobody heard anything.

Did they go voluntarily with someone? But it's so unlikely that they would do that at night. And for what purpose and under what premise would someone try to lure them away?

Or maybe they were killed in the house and their bodies taken away?

Uh, hate to even write that!

 

[otto]

-Did the Liknes have an alarm system?

-Where are their phones? When were they last used?

-Who has security cameras in that area?

-Were the beds slept in?

-Did Nathan normally sleep with his grandparents or did he have his own room?

-Was the door locked upon arrival?

-What was the motive for this crime?

-Was the family in any financial difficulty?

-How often was Nathan at his grandparents house?

Those houses have security systems so there should be surveillance video.

Given the oil pump patents, oil resource/services company, real estate investments (estate furniture in Canmore?), liquidation, lots of cash deals, and vulnerability of the situation, I think robbery is behind this.

Great questions ... I look forward to learning the answers.

 

[otto]

This is really a strange case. I did think it odd that the grandson was taken over at 10 pm to spend the night and was going to be picked up at 10 am. I'm sure there is an explanation for that though.

I sure hope they can be located safe quickly!

The mother last saw her son at her mother's house at 10PM. That's the last point on the timeline. He was not dropped off at 10PM. That has not been reported. The last known contact between the mother and her son was Sunday night at 10PM. Her son perhaps fell asleep after the estate sale and mom left at 10 with a promise to collect him at 10AM.