Charges laid in trio's deaths

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents Kathy and Alvin Liknes are shown in Calgary Police Service handout photos. It's now been two weeks since the mysterious disappearance of a five-year-old Calgary boy and his grandparents.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

Update July 15 6:30 a.m.:

Douglas Garland has been formally charged with murder in the deaths of two missing Calgary grandparents and a five-year-old boy.

Update July 14 - 4 p.m.:

A relative of a missing Calgary boy and his grandparents says the family won't believe the three were murdered until their bodies are found.

In an email to The Canadian Press, Teena Prevost, the sister-in-law of Kathryn Liknes (LICK-ness), says her family is holding out hope they're alive.

Five-year-old Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents, Kathryn and Alvin Liknes, were last seen at the couple's home on June 29.

Police have said first and second-degree murder charges are pending against a man arrested earlier today north of Calgary.

Police say they can't identify the man until he appears before a justice of the peace.

But they say there is strong evidence that indicates the three are dead.

UPDATE: 12:13 P.M. - Calgary police have confirmed Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents, Kathryn and Alvin Liknes, are dead. At a news conference, police say they have re-arrested Douglas Garland although he has not been charged.

Two counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder are being recommended in the case. The bodies of the three have not been recovered.

More details to come.

Calgary police say they have made an arrest in the disappearance of a five-year-old boy and his grandparents.

In a news release, police say they cannot identify the person arrested because charges have not been laid. The police chief has a news conference scheduled for this afternoon.

Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents, Kathryn and Alvin Liknes, haven't been seen since June 29 after what police say was a violent incident in the Liknes house.

The couple held an estate sale in their home prior to their disappearance and Nathan was there on a sleepover.

An Amber Alert issued shortly after they were reported missing has now been cancelled.

Police have only publicly identified one man as a person of interest in the case.

Douglas Garland was first questioned more than a week ago and was released from custody last Friday on unrelated identity theft charges.

Media reports citing police sources say it's Garland who has been re-arrested.

Garland, who is 54, has ties to the Liknes family.

Police have said his sister is in a relationship with a family member and there have been reports he had business dealings with Alvin Liknes as well.

Investigators have been searching the tree-lined acreage northeast of Airdrie where Garland lives with his parents since he was initially questioned.

Over the past two weeks RCMP and Calgary police have searched several fields, sloughs and stands of trees on the acreage and in an area nearby.