Nathan O'Brien Amber Alert: Final search of Liknes home ends
Police say after multiple searches they have ended the investigation into the Parkhill home where three Calgary family members were last seen on June 29.
The home belongs to the grandparents of five-year-old Nathan O'Brien, Kathryn and Alvin Liknes. The three were discovered missing the following morning when Nathan's mother arrived to pick him up from a sleepover.
Police say there was evidence a violent crime occurred in the southwest Calgary home.
Following an initial search of the house, police returned last weekend and extended the perimeter of their search area. They returned again Saturday for a final sweep but now say they have "released the home from police continuity," meaning it will no longer be the subject of police searches.
The search for evidence will continue this week at the Spyhill Landfill in Calgary where investigators are still sifting through mounds of garbage.
Police will also continue to search an acreage in Airdie, located north of the city, which is connected with what police describe as a "person of interest" in this case.
Douglas Garland, 54, was taken from his parents' acreage to answer police questions about the case but was ultimately released from questioning on that matter.
Police kept him in custody and charged him with an unrelated count of identity theft and unlawful possession of a bank card. The charge is related to the recent use of the stolen identity of a 14-year-old Alberta boy who died in 1980.
Garland has since been released on bail.
Garland does have a criminal history that includes drug trafficking and possession of stolen property after he was caught making amphetamines on his parents' acreage in 1992.
The then-33-year-old Garland fled those charges and a document from the Tax Court of Canada indicates he was later discovered living under that stolen identity in Vancouver.
He returned to Calgary and pleaded guilty to several of the charges in connection to the drug bust and the stolen identity.
The identity theft charge Garland faces now is specifically in relation to the recent use of that stolen identity he used in the 1990s.
His bail on that charge was set at $750 on Friday and Garland faces a set of restrictions, including reporting three times a week to a supervisor and once a week to police.
He must also live in transitional housing and can't return to his parents' Airdrie acreage while it is under police investigation.
CBC News has also learned that Garland has several connections with the Liknes family.
His sister is in a common-law relationship with Alvin Liknes's son and investigators have also been looking into the business relationship between Garland and Liknes.
Sources say a business deal between the two went sour, leading to "bad blood," and Calgary police are investigating a patent dispute as part of their probe into the case.
Winter Petroleum, a junior gas company owned by Liknes, went bankrupt near the end of June — just days before the family went missing.
Liknes had registered a patent for an apparatus that separates gas from water.
"There are some business issues that we are looking into," said Calgary police spokesperson Kevin Brookwell on Thursday. "I can't get into specifics about what these are and who was involved, what they look like or how many people were involved. But yes, we have got a number of people who are looking into that."
Court records also show that both Alvin and Kathryn Liknes have declared bankruptcy in the past — Alvin in 1994 and Kathryn just two years ago.
According to records, Liknes was involved in several civil lawsuits in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was the defendant in two cases four years ago.
