Community of Hinton, Alta., mourns loss of mother and her 16-month-old
Jerry Melvin, a resident of Hinton for 65 years, gently placed a teddy bear at a growing makeshift memorial outside an apartment complex in the community Sunday afternoon.
A woman living there, along with her 16-month-old toddler, were killed this week.
Around 6 p.m. Thursday, officers responded to a report that a woman and her toddler were missing. Friday evening RCMP said in a news release that the woman and her child were later found dead.
Robert Keith Major, 53, of Hinton, faces two counts of second-degree murder and one count of indignity to human remains.
RCMP confirmed to CTV News Edmonton that Major is a convicted sexual offender. The Edmonton Police Service said in a media release in 2017 that it had “reasonable grounds” to believe he would commit “another sexual offence against a female, including children.”
Investigators say Major lived in the same apartment complex as the woman and her child.
Minesh Kadam lived in that same apartment complex for a year. He was coming home after finishing a shift from work when he saw the complex surrounded by police as they investigated.
“The police barricaded the whole thing,” he shared.
For Kadam, the incident shocked him.
“It’s a tragic incident, like too much to digest,” he said. “It’s too much.
“No one could imagine that,” he added. “It’s a small town.”
Kadam said once he saw the picture of the person in police custody, he immediately recognized him.
“He used to live right across our balcony,” he said. “Whenever we used to go for a smoke, we used to see him and he would wave at us.”
For Melvin, there are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred.
“Sad, hard to imagine,” he told CTV News Edmonton.
“The community is just upset,” he added. “It’s not fair.
“Me and my wife would say hello to him, when he was out on his balcony,” Melvin shared. “What’s really scary is my wife took him to the bottle depot.
“He needed a ride,” he said. “I think about that. Something could’ve happened very bad.”
Investigators are not releasing the identities of the victims, nor any information about the cause of death.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.