A couple weeks ago I saw a headline somewhere.... not sure if it was online or in print here in Vancouver that said Edmonton headed the list of where the most murders take place beating out even the Greater Toronto Area... Really? Edmonton? I didn't see it...

About the same time I received an invite to a group on Facebook to "Find Johnny Altinger" who was one of my online buds back in the late 80s and early to mid 90s. Apparently he had gone missing and one of his family members was canvassing everyone on his friends list on Facebook to see if he had contacted them. I joined the group and shortly afterward was contacted by a reporter with Global's Edmonton office asking me how I knew him and when was the last time I heard from him.

Next thing I heard was that the Edmonton RCMP or Police homicide division was looking into the matter and he still hadn't been found.

This morning I received another email from a reporter with the Edmonton Journal saying that the police had made an announcement in the case and could I call him and answer some questions about how I knew him and what he was like, etc. I checked Canada.com and got to the Edmonton Journal's homepage and there on the right, top link was a headline about a 29-year-old man had been arrested for first degree murder. With a sinking feeling, I clicked the link and sure enough the arrest was in connection with the missing man case.

I emailed the reporter back and told him the same thing I told the first reporter... we met when we were teenagers (online-ish, before the internet had graphics) because we both had the same kind of computer system and traded games with each other. I hadn't seen him since the mid-90s before I moved away, and then reconnected with him on Facebook earlier this year.

When I got back from lunch today I refreshed the link to see if there was any new information and there was a little more info. There was also a flurry of activity on the group page on Facebook as well. Shortly after that, Little Bucket IM'd me and since she lives in Edmonton I asked her if she had heard about it, and she sent me a different link to a longer story that was much more shocking. I don't really know what to say, it sounds like the plot from a bad movie.