Yellowknife dad says support after theft of beloved truck in Alberta gives him hope

A Yellowknife father says his truck being stolen in Alberta over the weekend is frustrating – but the outpouring of support over the past few days has given him hope. 

"On one side of this, you know, there's the heinous act of somebody breaking into a vehicle, seeing kids blankets and stuffies and toys, and continuing to make the decision to steal it," said Myles Cane. 

"But, you know, the generous and empathetic side gives you kind of hope for humanity and encourages you to keep fighting, keep looking for it," he said. 

Cane and his three kids, 12-year-old Allison, 11-year-old Calvin and 8-year-old Zoey, had driven down to Edmonton for the Spring on Ice hockey tournament over the weekend. They reached their hotel around 8 p.m. Friday and 20 minutes later when one of the kids went to the truck to grab a charging cable, the beloved 2005 Ford Excursion was gone.

The truck had sentimental value, said Cane. It had been heavily modified with, among other things, a new drivetrain, a turbo diesel engine, and a newer interior. He said his kids helped him with some of the work, and it's taken them on several road trips. 

Zoey said her favourite memory of the truck was a trip the family took to Kelowna, B.C., last summer for hockey camp. Allison's favourite was a road trip to Drumheller, Alta. 

"We spent a lot of time as a family together," recalled Allison. In Drumheller, they met some of their cousins for the first time and checked out dinosaur bones at the Royal Tyrell Museum. 

"I want it back," said Calvin. 

'It's really getting out there'

Speaking to CBC News from a restaurant in Grande Prairie, Alta., around lunch on Monday, Cane said the truck is "distinctive" and he suspects someone had followed them until they parked – waiting for an opportunity to take it. What the culprit may have been less interested in was the $6- to $7-thousand worth of hockey equipment it was carrying, which belonged to multiple families.

Cane has since discovered that there are a lot of pages on social media dedicated to tracking down stolen vehicles. He made a post, and is surprised by the traction it attained online. One of his posts has been shared more than a thousand times.

"I've talked to four random people this morning … and people [are] like, 'oh, yea, I saw that on Facebook.' So it's really getting out there. And I think that's why there's sightings." 

Cane said that RCMP were planning to review surveillance footage from a Tim Hortons in the city that day, and that a hotel he stayed at had also agreed to comb their footage as well. 

He said people have reported seeing the vehicle in Grande Cache and Grande Prairie – and that it appeared to be heading North, just like he was. He had rented another vehicle to get his family back to Yellowknife after the tournament. 

"It's possible we see it. We're going to keep our eyes open." 

By Tuesday, Cane said he and his family were nearing High Level, Alta., and the number of sightings had slowed.

"We're keeping our chins up and we're already … talking about our next build, how we're going to build our next one, if we don't get this one back," he said.