Update: The Amber Alert for Taliyah Leigh Marsman has been cancelled after a body was located
Calgary police have issued an Alberta-wide Amber Alert for a five-year-old girl believed to have been abducted from the community of Panorama Hills, where her mother was found dead.
The Amber Alert for Taliyah Leigh Marsman was issued shortly after 1:30 a.m. MDT on Tuesday.
As of 12 p.m., Marsman’s whereabouts remained unknown. She was last seen by a family member at around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The young girl is described as having a slim build, curly brown hair and blue eyes.
Police said it’s believed Marsman was abducted by an unknown person from the 1000 block of Panamount Boulevard N.W.
GALLERY: Calgary police issued an Amber Alert for Taliyah Leigh Marsman, 5, on Tuesday, July 12, 2016.
Officers were originally called to the area at around 8:30 p.m. on Monday after family members complained they were unable to reach the young girl’s mother.
“The victim didn’t show up for work,” Inspector Don Coleman of the Calgary Police Service Major Crimes section said at a Tuesday morning news conference.
When they arrived at the scene, police found Marsman‘s mother dead in the home.
Friends have confirmed to Global News the victim is Sara Baillie, 34, who lived in a basement suite in Panorama Hills.
Landlord Olumuyiwa Dada told the Canadian Press he had recently rented the suite to Baillie and her daughter, who moved in on May 1.
Dada said the last time he saw either was last week when they came home with groceries, adding they were good tenants.
“No stress. No problems,” Dada said Tuesday. “I’m really in shock.”
WATCH: Amber Alert: Alberta family please for return of Taliyah Marsman. Reid Fiest reports.
Police said there didn’t appear to be any sign of forced entry at the home.
“At this point, it’s still early in the investigation,” Coleman said. “We’re not ruling out anybody as a suspect, and we’re looking at all avenues.”
“We’ve looked at and spoken to several family members,” Coleman added.
Police said they have been in contact with Marsman’s father, Baillie’s estranged husband, who has been co-operating with the investigation.
Marsman’s mother and father were known to police due to domestic-violence related calls.
“There’s limited domestic history – both reported and unreported,” Coleman said.
WATCH: Calgary police say somebody out there knows where Taliyah Leigh Marsman is
Global News has confirmed Marsman’s father is Colin Evan Marsman, 36.
According to court documents obtained by Global News, Baillie feared that Marsman could cause her personal injury. The information came in a charge filed on March 2, 2015.
In February 2015, documents indicated Marsman was charged with unlawful confinement of Baillie, and the threat of violence to prevent her from using her cellphone to contact police.
Marsman was the subject of a peace bond for a period of 12 months beginning in March of 2015.
The charges were withdrawn in exchange for him undergoing the peace bond.
Some of the conditions of the bond included him not having contact with Baillie, or coming within a two-block radius of her home. He was, however, allowed to contact Baillie via text message to arrange access to their child.
Global News has also confirmed Marsman, also known as Colin Paris, is originally from Halifax.
“Colin is a great father,” his current girlfriend Jessica Mardinger said Tuesday. “He loves Taliyah and is in so much pain.”
Marsman’s family made an emotional plea to the public on Tuesday afternoon, asking for anyone with information on the young girl’s whereabouts to contact police.
“We’re here today and holding this press conference on behalf of Sara Baillie who we’ve lost,” Baillie’s uncle, Scott Hamilton, said.
“We’re also here to plead to those who’ve taken Taliyah Leigh Marsman, Baillie’s daughter, please return her,” Hamilton said through tears.
WATCH: Taliyah Leigh Marsman’s uncle makes public plea for her return
“Drop her off at an RCMP station, Calgary Police Service station or grocery store, gas station – wherever you want. Contact the family. We’ll come pick her up. There will be no questions asked.”
“We love her, we miss her and we want her back.”
“Please if you have Taliyah, let her come home to her family,” Baillie’s aunt, Marry-Lynn Hamilton, said.
Taliyah’s family described her as vivacious with a love of her bicycle and her iPad.
WATCH: A video posted to Instagram shows 5-year-old Taliyah Leigh Marsman riding a bike
“Taliyah is not your average little five-year-old girl,” Mary-Lynn Hamilton said. “She’s very mature. If you ever got to talk to her or to see her, you wouldn’t know she’s five. You’d think she’s more like seven or eight years old – she’s taller than most kids.”
“Don’t be looking for that average five-year-old child.”
WATCH: Family of Taliyah Leigh Marsman describes what kind of person she was
Scott Hamilton described Baillie as a beautiful young woman, who was “single-handedly” raising her daughter.
“Taliyah was Sara’s world,” he said. “Sara was a hardworking single mother, and doing the very best she could.”
“We love her and we miss her.”
RAW: Inspector Don Coleman of the Calgary Police Service Major Crimes Section holds an update on the Amber Alert issued for Taliyah Leigh Marsman
When asked why an Amber Alert wasn’t issued until five hours after police discovered the death of Marsman’s mother, police said certain criteria has to be met for an Amber Alert to be issued.
“Once we satisfy that criteria through the investigation, then we make the decision to put out an Amber Alert,” Coleman said.
Although the Amber Alert was issued for all of Alberta, police said they don’t have any information to suggest that the little girl is outside of Calgary.
“But we’re not ruling out possibilities,” Coleman explained.
“Our primary focus is the safe return of Taliyah.”
WATCH: A video uploaded to Sara Baillie’s Facebook page shows her young daughter Taliyah Leigh Marsman reading
Police had been looking for a vehicle of interest in connection with the case which they described as a white, four-door, 2016 Ford Fusion. It was later located.
Officers continue to investigate the death of Marsman’s mother and are speaking with witnesses and persons of interest. Her cause of death hasn’t been released.
Anyone with information on the girl’s disappearance is asked to contact the Calgary Police Service’s non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 or 403-53-AMBER (403-532-6237).
EDITOR’S NOTE: Although the original Amber Alert sent by Calgary police stated Marsman’s eyes were brown, they later issued a correction stating her eyes are blue.
– With files from Reid Fiest, Nancy Hixt and The Canadian Press
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