The search for a toddler abducted near the B.C. border has ended in murder charges against a former “close friend” of the girl’s mother.
Derek James Saretzky of Blairmore, Alta. has been charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of two-year-old Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and her father Terry Blanchette, 27.
He faces an additional count of committing an indignity to a body in relation to the two-year-old girl’s death.
Hailey’s remains were found Tuesday in a rural area near Blairmore, 220 km south of Calgary. The gruesome discovery ended an ongoing Amber Alert across Western Canada and one U.S. state to find her.
The girl’s mother, Cheyenne Dunbar, broke down in tears speaking to reporters after the charges were announced, saying she had no idea why anyone would harm “her baby.”
“I’m going to miss absolutely everything: I’m going to miss her smile, the way she ran around saying ‘mummy,’” a tearful Dunbar said.
“She was my baby – I don’t know why anybody would do this to her.”
The 20-year-old, who lives in Edmonton and shared custody with the girl's father, said she and Saretzky used to be close, but they fell out of touch and hadn’t spoken for three years.
"We were great friends," Dunbar told reporters. "It tears me apart knowing friends would do something like that."
In a Facebook post earlier Wednesday, Cheyenne’s mother Terry Lynn Dunbar said Hailey’s relatives are “reeling from the pain we’ve endured” since she went missing.
“The Dunbar and Blanchette families will be forever broken,” Terry Lynn wrote, adding her pain is "unimaginable at the loss of my only grandchild in such a horrific manner.”
The girl’s accused killer was arrested without incident in the Blairmore area and will be held in custody until his first court appearance in Lethbridge on Sept. 23.
Supt. Tony Hamori thanked both police and the public for their efforts responding to Hailey’s disappearance.
"The RCMP extends its deepest condolences to the Blanchette and Dunbar family with respect to Hailey and Terry's loss, and to all those who knew them and to the citizens of Blairmore," he said.
Before the tragic news was released, Hailey’s family was already grieving the loss of her father, who was found dead at a Blairmore home around 11:30 a.m. Monday.
That’s when Mounties first discovered Hailey was missing, though she is believed to have been abducted hours earlier, around 3:30 a.m.
Blanchette was employed as a cook at a local restaurant, and has been described as a doting father by coworkers.
“His dad came and took care of her when he was at work,” said Angela Mathieson. “He was taking very good care of her. There was always laughter and giggling going on over there.”
Blanchette had a criminal history dating back to 2010, but only for minor convictions.
