The family of two missing St. Albert seniors gathered Sunday to get the message out as the couple has now been missing for more than a month.
Friends, family and supporters of Lyle and Marie McCann gathered Sunday afternoon before spreading posters of the couple in northwest Edmonton and other areas in the hopes of generating more information.
The couple was last seen on July 3 after leaving St. Albert on a motorhome vacation to British Columbia. They were reported missing when they failed to arrive on July 10.
Before heading out with posters of his own, son Bret McCann said he and the rest of the family just wants to keep their parents in the news.
“There is so much in the news that we can understand why it can’t be the top story all the time, but we are organizing this and I am not sure what we might do next, but we are trying to keep this in the public eye.”
The couple’s daughter, Trudy Holder, said she worries the investigation will suffer if her parents fall out of the spotlight.
“The fear that I have inside, it seems to go hand-in-hand and I don’t want it to feel that way, but it feels like if there is less media coverage there could be less investigation.”
The couple’s SUV was found July 16, the same day police announced they had a person of interest in the case. That person, Travis Edward Vader, was arrested July 19 on unrelated charges and remains in custody.
Police are still asking for anyone who may have seen the couple, the SUV, the motorhome or Vader in July to contact them.
Addressing the crowd that came out on Sunday, McCann said he believes the information that will help his parents is out there and wants to pull it out of someone.
“Someone, somewhere, has some information and can help the police find my parents and bring them home safe.”
Andy Zetsen, McCann’s brother-in-law, was one of many people who came out to help. He planned to take posters to Camrose and Wetaskiwin, near where he lives and then on a road trip along the Yellowhead Highway towards Jasper next week.
“Somebody knows something, that proverbial one piece of information that if they are reminded often enough, they could tell somebody and that could be the key.”
Al Young, a Calgary businessman, was also on hand Sunday. Young developed the website www.missingpersonsalert.org, which features profiles and basic information on several cases.
He has developed a site for the McCanns and is also helping manage the Facebook page set up for the group, which is nearing 40,000 members.
He said managing a big Facebook page can be time consuming and also difficult for families, especially when posters stray off message.
“When you attract 40,000 people to a Facebook page you are bound to get certain elements to create stories, or to dwell or speculate or create disharmony.”
Anyone with any information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700.
