Concerns raised about safety during private sales

CALGARY- The sudden disappearance of a Calgary family following an estate sale has raised serious security concerns.

While there is still no confirmed link, police have been getting phone calls from concerned people holding similar sales, or selling items online.

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“I think it’s the kind of thing that we normally should be thinking of, but from time to time we just forget about it. I think this particular one has raised the awareness,” says Ron Moore, who is also holding an estate sale. “We did place a call to the police, just to see if there was any additional hints or help or advice that they could provide, and as well spoke to some estate sale people who had some advice as well.”

Police say there are precautions people can take.

“One thing we always encourage is that people have sufficient number of people in their homes to cater for the possible number of people that respond to an ad,” says Cst. Andrew Critchley from the Calgary Police Crime Prevention Unit. “If you have an unknown quantity of people turning up at your house, that can create challenges.

“Those challenges are safety for yourself, safety for your family and also issues relating to property.”

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He adds that even with the high number of people who sell items, there are very few complaints. It’s a good idea to not reveal too much information in the advertisement, and private companies can also be hired to handle estate sales.