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

[Kaliste]

Police are not in favour of a reward because it will do nothing to advance the investigation, or solve the disappearance. Rewards for information about a criminal act have been studied and the conclusion is that they do not make a difference in terms of solving the crime. Rewards do make a difference in terms of increasing the number of useless tips that are provided to investigators.

Interesting. Seems they are a part of most cases here and I've never really thought they could have anything other than positive results. My only personal experience rewards was for a missing dog and there were a number of very weird calls... So it does make sense.

I have a child Nathan's age that often stays with grandparents...I just want this solved so badly

 

[Weebles]

BBM

What a hot mess. They can't even figure out if anything is missing from the home (and therefore, if robbery could have been a motive for a home invasion) without knowing what was sold at the sale. They won't know what was sold at the sale unless everyone from the sale comes to them with pictures of what they purchased. Then I guess the family will have to look at what was in the home, pictures of items sold (and that is assuming every attendee of the sale shows up with pictures.. doubtful) and try to figure out what is missing. This will be a difficult task for the family because the easiest way to tell if something is missing from a home is if it is out-of-place. In this case, everything is out of place.

:banghead: Argh. I do not envy investigators in this case.

Hot mess it is. How many people may have stopped by on their way through town to their long weekend camping destination that do not even live in Calgary? How many people may have headed out of Dodge for vaction as they do not want to be in town for the crowds of the Stampede? With the sale, no way of knowing if it was stolen or sold for any of the items.

 

[Kaliste]

I actually found it more unusual that the family thought a reward of $100k would lead to a resolution and bring their son home. That might work in countries where people are kidnapped specifically for money, but this wasn't a child abduction. The grandparents were the target here, and the child was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. With blood at the scene, the parents were not targetted with the intent to leave them unharmed.

The family is probably just a mess of emotions and trying to do anything and everything to get their sweet boy back. It may not be rational. Id happily give away every last cent if I thought it wouldn't in any way help bring my baby home

 

[HulaMum]

That's onlly $10k more than the Tax Assessment. Wouldn't they have be able to sell for a lot more today?

Heck yes. They should have, even at that time, been able to get 100-150k more than their assessment. Mr or Mrs. Buyer scored a major bargain there unless there is something we don't know about the property or terms of the sale.

And 6 months later, yes, the price would have been even higher now.

 

[matou]

CALGARY – As police continue to investigate the disappearance of a five-year-old Calgary boy and his grandparents, they’re now turning to people who attended an estate sale at a Parkhill home over the weekend.

Officials are asking anyone who went to a sale held in the 100 block of 38A Avenue S.W. on June 28th or 29th to go to the Parkhill Community Centre on Thursday, July 3rd.

Investigators will be on hand between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., and are asking anyone who purchased an item at the sale to bring a photo of that item to the community hall meeting.

It’s hoped this will help police determine what items were purchased during the sale, compared to what items remain in the home.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1425164/5-year-old-grandparents-disappear-from-southwest-calgary-home/

 

[Kaliste]

So when the daughter left at 10pm her mother was dressed for bed in pjs but the dad and Nathan were still in their street clothes. I am behind so could someone fill me in about the lights being on. TY!

Also, I am glad they are putting up more pictures. Are those driver license photos of the grandparents that we have been seeing?

Looks to me like passport photos.

 

[Weebles]

Family members of the missing boy and grandparents are expected to speak to the media at 3 p.m. today.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calgary/Amber+Alert+Nathan+Brien+Alvin+Kathryn+Liknes+continues/9989542/story.html

 

[otto]

Interesting. Seems they are a part of most cases here and I've never really thought they could have anything other than positive results. My only personal experience rewards was for a missing dog and there were a number of very weird calls... So it does make sense.

I have a child Nathan's age that often stays with grandparents...I just want this solved so badly

There was a reward in the Cayley Anthony case. The man that stumbled onto the remains was going to make the call regardless of whether there was a reward ... and didn't he report it to the wrong agency and not receive the reward? I think the reward is supposed to cause accomplices to come forward, but I've never heard of that happening. Besides, who would honour the reward offer in a situation where the person with info was involved? Anyone other than an accomplice is going to come forward with information simply because it's the right thing to do, and if they don't come forward for the right reasons, then they probably don't deserve a reward.

 

[Weebles]

The couple had spent the weekend selling what they owned in Calgary, a friend said, and were moving to a condo they had bought in Mexico.
.........

Cherri Hodgins, Kathy Liknes' friend since junior high, was at the sale on Sunday. She last saw the couple that afternoon. "They were actually pretty happy," she said.

"They did well on the sale. They were relieved they'd sold off some things. They were looking forward to the future and they were looking forward to good change."

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calgary/Amber+Alert+Nathan+Brien+Alvin+Kathryn+Liknes+continues/9989542/story.html

 

[Weebles]

Responding to media reports that the family of the missing boy and grandparents is considering offering a large cash reward for information about their disappearance, Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson advised against it.

“I think it’s important to allow the police to do their job, let the resources be applied,” he said.

Hanson said the promise of a reward could do more harm than good by promoting inaccurate information and distracting investigators

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/nathan-o-brien-missing-boy-and-grandparents-police-to-hold-briefing-1.2694198

 

[Weebles]

New pictures released

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/reward-to-be-offered-for-safe-return-of-calgary-boy-grandparents-1.1895266

 

[Weebles]

Nathan and his mother and brother were helping with an estate sale on Sunday and Nathan stayed behind for a sleepover at his grandparent’s home

Read more: http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/reward-to-be-offered-for-safe-return-of-calgary-boy-grandparents-1.1895266#ixzz36LDSHCc2

 

[otto]

Hopefully the daughter remembers what was sold and what still had to be picked up. For example, if a sofa was sold and the buyer intended to return later with a truck to pick it up, that might be the person behind this. If the grandparents recognized the perp from the sale, the perp would be allowed into the house without any concern. Since some lights were still on the following day, this might have happened shortly after the daughter left at 10PM. I bet the answer is in the daughter's memory somewhere, but she just doesn't know which memory it is.

 

[KMouse]

I am thinking this a robbery gone very wrong.

I'm not sure how this sale was advertised but sounds like it was a contents sale. I saw some of the Kijiji ads that had furniture..."big ticket" items. If the same generated a lot of cash then maybe somebody came back to the home and a confrontation ensued. Somebody could come back after the posted hours and say "hey, I was here earlier, just wondering if you still had that couch". Or maybe they purchased it and came back to pick it up. There are so many possibilities with this. With all the traffic it would be so hard to remember seeing anything out of the ordinary.

 

[KMouse]

Hopefully the daughter remembers what was sold and what still had to be picked up. For example, if a sofa was sold and the buyer intended to return later with a truck to pick it up, that might be the person behind this. If the grandparents recognized the perp from the sale, the perp would be allowed into the house without any concern. Since some lights were still on the following day, this might have happened shortly after the daughter left at 10PM. I bet the answer is in the daughter's memory somewhere, but she just doesn't know which memory it is.

From my experience with advertising small things on Kijiji....it attracts some strange people!

 

[SanJuanMom]

This reminds me of my girlfriend's estate sale 2 weeks ago...She sold her large stainless BBQ to an older couple who in turn asked for assistance ( as in...can your husband travel back to our home and help unload it PLEASE?!....) He reluctantly obliged since they were elderly buyers and insisted they lived very close by,etc...Well...he returned 2 hours later and although he is a successful attorney and considers himself to be a great judge of character...second guessed himself numerous times along that route there...and back...
Perhaps this occured...with bad results? A car accident in a purchaser's car or rented u-Haul? Just thinking out loud....

 

[Sillybilly]

Somebody else want to zoom in on the pic in the following article, take a look at the bottom right hand side of the gate .. black article (2 images in picture?? pareidolia at work? sillybilly is being silly?):

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/c...n+Kathryn+Liknes+continues/9989542/story.html

 

[Wendy101]

Hopefully the daughter remembers what was sold and what still had to be picked up. For example, if a sofa was sold and the buyer intended to return later with a truck to pick it up, that might be the person behind this. If the grandparents recognized the perp from the sale, the perp would be allowed into the house without any concern. Since some lights were still on the following day, this might have happened shortly after the daughter left at 10PM. I bet the answer is in the daughter's memory somewhere, but she just doesn't know which memory it is.

She is the daughter-in-law ... I think.

The Grandpa is Nathan's Dad's step-dad..

Anyone know how long these two have been married?

 

[Sillybilly]

Ugh, so many people coming and going, touching everything, items leaving the house. It must be like DNA soup in there.

Now who would have used that fact to their advantage?

Soup for sure, but depends if they have DNA in certain locations (i.e. on top of blood or mixed with victim blood)

 

[HulaMum]

I am thinking this a robbery gone very wrong.

I'm not sure how this sale was advertised but sounds like it was a contents sale. I saw some of the Kijiji ads that had furniture..."big ticket" items. If the same generated a lot of cash then maybe somebody came back to the home and a confrontation ensued. Somebody could come back after the posted hours and say "hey, I was here earlier, just wondering if you still had that couch". Or maybe they purchased it and came back to pick it up. There are so many possibilities with this. With all the traffic it would be so hard to remember seeing anything out of the ordinary.

OK, so let's keep going with this theory, as it's probably the most common one right now (as far as comments, rumors IMO).

So how and why did the perps end up removing the victims? Why? Who was injured? Did they clean up? If so, why? Where would they have been headed?

Who would be motivated to take a huge risk, entering a home where you know people are for sure, for a few thousand dollars? I would think that, if you are intending to rob a home and you know people are there, you would take steps to protect your identity. Something goes south, you flee. So why take the live or dead victims with you?