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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.