Members of the Calgary church that baptized Nathan O'Brien are praying for the safe return of the five-year-old and his grandparents, who have been missing for more than a week.
St. Michael Catholic Community Church held a special prayer service on Monday evening for Nathan and Kathy and Alvin Liknes. It was attended by the family of the three.
Rev. Julian Studden told CBC News the church community is deeply affected and concerned.
"They are feeling hurt that such a tragedy can happen to a boy like Nathan, and they have a heart of compassion and they feel like it's their own little one," he said.
Studden said the community is holding nine days of special prayers. Known as the novena, the vigils began on Friday.
Calgary police and RCMP are expected to continue their search Tuesday of a rural property near Calgary in connection with the disappearances.
Throughout Monday afternoon, police searched three new sites near the property from which Douglas Garland, who they call a "person of interest," was brought in for questioning in regards on Friday night. Garland was later released, but has been charged over the alleged recent use of a stolen identity that he had previously used during the 1990s while evading police on drug charges in Vancouver.
Officers searched through three separate fields around the Garland property on Monday and brought in a member of the canine unit to assist with police officers' shoulder-to-shoulder searches.
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Garland appeared in a Calgary court Monday to face the new charge of identity theft via closed-circuit television, and was expressionless and leaned against a wall as the charge was discussed. He will be back in court on Wednesday.
A homicide detective and Nathan's father were also in court. The father did not talk to reporters.
Douglas Garland made a brief appearance in a Calgary court on Monday. He faces new charges not related to him being a "person of interest" in the case of the missing five-year-old and his grandparents. (Sketch: Janice Fletcher)
Police detained Garland on Friday and spent the weekend talking to him about the disappearance of the three, who vanished from the Liknes family home.
Garland was discovered at an acreage owned by his parents near Airdrie, northeast of Calgary. Police were acting on a tip from the public about a green truck they had been looking for that led them to the site.
Police investigators combed a hay field north of Airdrie, Alta., on Saturday in search of clues to the disappearance of five-year-old Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents. (The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh)
At a news conference Saturday evening, Duty Insp. Joel Matthews with the Calgary Police Service said investigators had not found Nathan or his grandparents, which is why the Amber Alert — issued a week ago — remains in effect.
Matthews said that during a shoulder-to-shoulder search in a field at the property, a white flag was put in place at one location, but he could not comment on what that means.
'Person of interest' has criminal record
Garland has a criminal history, including drug trafficking and possession of stolen property after he was caught making amphetamines on his parents' Airdrie acreage in 1992.
In the early 1990s, Garland was convicted of stealing the identity of Matthew Kemper Hartley — a 14-year-old Alberta boy killed in a car crash in 1980. The charge laid against him this past weekend relates to another, more recent incident in which Garland allegedly used the boy's identity again.
CBC News learned Garland was released from questioning specifically in regards to the Nathan O'Brien disappearance, but remained in police custody in relation to the latest charge of identity theft he now faces.
CBC News has also learned that Garland has a connection to the Liknes family through his sister, who lists Nathan's parents, Rod and Jennifer, as well as Kathy Liknes as "friends" on Facebook.
She also lists one member of the Liknes family as a niece.
Neighbours tie ribbons of hope to homes
O'Brien and his grandparents were reported missing on June 30, after Nathan's mother arrived to pick up her son from a sleepover at the Likneses's Parkhill house. The family had been helping out with an estate sale the Likneses were holding ahead of a planned move to Edmonton.
As well as the prayer sessions, Parkhill residents are now tying green ribbons to their homes in a symbol of hope and support that the Parkhill Stanley Park Community Association says is meant to increase awareness and express hope for the safe return of Nathan and his grandparents.
Police are still looking to speak with anyone who attended the estate sale on June 27, 28 and 29.
Investigators estimate between 200 and 300 people went to the sale, but they are trying to get an idea of what was purchased and what remains in the home.
They say there was no sign of forced entry into the home, but that blood found inside confirms that a violent incident did take place.
Police could not say who the blood belonged to, only that it signalled someone had been "in medical distress."
The forensics unit also examined "marks" along the outside of the house, but police could not confirm whether those marks are blood.
Police have a number of theories as to what took place, but aren't making those public.
Anyone with information about the case can call the Calgary Police Service at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
Nathan O'Brien, centre, and his grandparents, Kathy and Alvin Liknes, have not been seen since Nathan's mom left the home of the couple the night of June 29. (Calgary Police Service)
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