Man charged with killing Alberta man, daughter

BLAIRMORE, Alberta — An Alberta man has been charged with killing a man and his 2-year-old daughter.

On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged Derek James Saretzky, 22, of Blairmore with first-degree murder in the homicides of Terry Blanchette and his daughter, Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette.

Saretzky also faces one count of Indignity to a body in relation to Hailey’s death.

Saretzky has been in police custody since Tuesday. He will remain jailed pending his first court appearance Sept. 23 in Lethbridge Provincial Court.

The murder of Terry Blanchette was discovered Monday and a search began for his abducted daughter.

An Amber Alert was issued in several Canadian provinces and Montana before the girl’s body was found Tuesday.

“We have found the body of 2-year-old Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette in a rural location near Blairmore,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Tony Hamori said.

Victims services officials made the announcement to a horrified crowd that had gathered in Blairmore, in southwestern Alberta, at a candlelight vigil for Hailey.

Relatives, friends and strangers who had shown up to lend support in the search for the girl were overcome with grief, breaking down in tears as officials announced the Amber Alert had been canceled.  

Hailey apparently was abducted early Monday morning from the town of Blairmore by someone driving a speeding white van.

Terry Blanchette was described by friends and family as a devoted single father who shared custody of Hailey with his former girlfriend, Cheyenne Dunbar, who lives in Edmonton.

Hamori said Dunbar was cooperating with investigators.

Blanchette worked as a cook in a restaurant and had many criminal convictions between 2010 and 2012 for issues such as failing to appear in court, failing to stop his vehicle, evading police, minor theft and assault.

But after Hailey was born, there were no more court appearances. Blanchette’s Facebook posts switched from talk of court dates to pictures of him with his baby daughter.

“He was taking good care of her. There was always laughing and giggling going on over there,” said neighbor Angela Mathieson.

Blairmore is 137 miles southwest of Calgary near the boundary between Alberta and British Columbia.

Within hours of the Amber Alert being issued, people in Flathead County had called dispatchers to help in the search.

From West Glacier to Whitefish, law officers pulled over white vans that fit the description of the vehicle linked to the abduction of the little girl in Alberta.