Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 06:00 am

By: Ryan Tumilty

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As the disappearance of a St. Albert couple extends into its second month, their family has set up a trust account in the hope of using the funds to help bring them home.

Lyle and Marie McCann were last seen on July 3, leaving St. Albert on a motorhome vacation in B.C. When they failed to arrive in Abbotsford on July 10, a massive search was launched to try and find them.

Their motorhome was found completely burned out on July 5 near Edson and since the search got under way, the couple’s missing SUV was found and a person of interest in the case, Travis Edward Vader, was arrested on unrelated charges.

Bret McCann, the couple’s son, said the idea for the trust account came from many people including those on a Facebook page the family set up.

"We are asking people that would like to donate, that they can donate that way and we will use the funds to expand the search for my parents."

McCann said they haven’t yet determined how the money will be used. He said they have many ideas, but they want to make sure they are doing the most good with whatever money they receive.

"We have ideas, but whatever we do we want to do something that is complementary to what the police are doing."

McCann and several other family members attended the Edmonton courthouse yesterday as Vader was scheduled to make an appearance on one of his many outstanding charges, but Vader made the appearance through a lawyer.

"We were hoping to have a look at him and we are hoping that he would see us and realize that there is a family here involved," said McCann. "We were basically trying to make a silent appeal to him."

McCann said the family knows Vader is simply a person of interest but do believe he has information to share.

In addition to a postering blitz last week, McCann said 1,500 posters went out through the mail this week to people living in the Edson area, asking them to look around their properties for any sign of the couple.

Sgt. Tim Taniguchi with the RCMP said the force remains focused on the investigation and is continuing to follow up leads and make progress.

"There are well over 20 people working full time still on this investigation. It has not slowed down."

He said tips from the public continued to come in, but said, while they are valuable, there are many other tools that investigators are using.

"Our investigators are busy following up on various tasks. We still want and need information from the public, but the tips are only part of the investigation."

Anyone with any information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700.

Donations to the "Bret McCann in trust" account can be made at any TD Canada Trust branch.