Taliyah Marsman likely dead before search began, police say

Calgary police say they found a body they believe is Taliyah Leigh Marsman on a rural property east of Chestermere late Thursday, bringing the three-day amber alert for the five-year-old to a devastating end.

Edward Delten Downey, 46 has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Marsman and her mother, 34-year-old Sara Baillie. 

Downey, who also uses the last name “Simmons,” was taken into custody at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night.

Police say Downey has an “extensive criminal history” and was a family friend to the child and her mother, but not her father, as was previously reported. 

An Amber Alert was first issued after Marsman’s mother Sarah Baillie was found deceased in her home, and it was discovered the five-year-old was missing. That Amber Alert has officially been cancelled. 

Insp. Don Coleman of the major crimes unit said he believes Taliyah was dead before the frantic search to find her began.

“We were hoping for another outcome, and worked hard for another outcome,” Coleman said.

“Clearly, by the timeline, there was nothing we could do.”

Searchers located the remains off of roadway eight kilometres east of Chestermere, off McKnight Boulevard, in a rural field with some storage or grain bins.

Police say the exact location of where the body was found will not be released to protect the integrity of the scene.

In a tearful press conference earlier this week, two of Baillie’s family members — uncle Scott Hamilton and aunt Marilynne Hamilton — described Taliyah as a “vivacious, wonderful child” who loved dancing and riding her bike.

And her mother, Sara Baillie, was known as a hard-working single mother who loved her daughter immensely. Her loved ones were tipped off to Taliyah’s disappearance after Baillie didn’t show up for work Monday morning.