Former Summerland resident Travis Vader, 40, has been charged with first degree murder in the deaths of Lyle McCann, 78, and Marie McCann, 77, of St. Albert, Alta.
Vader was arrested in jail in Edmonton, where he has been held on unrelated charges since the summer of 2010. His first court appearance on the two counts of murder is scheduled for May 15 in Edson, Alta.
The McCanns disappeared in July of 2010 on a trip from their home to meet relatives at Abbotsford. Their motorhome was found burned at a wilderness campground west of Edmonton, and the SUV they had been towing was later found abandoned. The two were declared dead a year after they disappeared but their bodies have not been found.
RCMP named Vader as a “person of interest” in the case and later as a “suspect.” The murder charges were laid Friday and announced on Monday.
Vader, a former oilfield worker, lived in Summerland until 2008 with his then-wife and their children.