Family continues search for missing Calgary woman into Thanksgiving weekend

In a remote forested area northwest of Calgary in the Waiparous Valley, Trevor Miller sits in a Westfalia van, poring over maps and organizing volunteers to aid in the search for his cousin, Amy Fahlman, who was declared missing by Calgary police on Oct. 1. 

According to police, 25-year-old Fahlman was last seen leaving her residence in the 300 block of Hawkland Place N.W. on Sept. 29. Miller said Fahlman told her family she was going for a drive, but that she never returned home. 

"We know that she left the house around 11:00 in the morning with the intention to go for a drive out into the wilderness, which is not unusual for her," said Miller. 

"She likes to paint or draw or take in nature and she didn't come back, that's really the only thing we really know."

Over the last week hundreds of people, including police, the Cochrane, Alta. search and rescue team and Amy's large tight-knit family have participated in a search to try to find out more about what happened to her, said Miller.

While Miller said initial search efforts spanned a broad region, ranging from the southern part of Kananaskis all the way to the B.C. border and back to Cochrane, the party has narrowed their focus to an area close to where Amy's car was found, roughly 45 kilometres north of Waiparous village off of Highway 40. 

In a release on Oct. 4th, Calgary police said that Amy's car had been located, but that no more information would be shared until "confirmed details are available." 

Miller said he's touched by the community support the search party has received and added that family and friends have come from all over Canada — and as far as Texas — to offer their help. 

"It restores my faith in humanity how amazing the turnout has been," he said. 

Miller said that search teams are traveling on foot and by ATV and horseback through challenging terrain, looking for clues such as footprints, pieces of Amy's belongings, or "anything unusual".

"For the most part, [there's] no cell service, so we have a mobile set-up with internet through Starlink, and we have printers and maps," Miller said. 

"We can send out the crew to the right spots with pins … And they can report back."

Miller added that the search party has been cooperating with Calgary police and sharing whatever resources they can with investigators.

In a release on Oct. 7, Calgary police asked the public for any dashcam footage of Amy's silver Nissan Murano that could assist them in their ongoing investigation.

Specifically, police are looking for footage from vehicles travelling on Highway 1A to northbound Highway 40, past Waiparous Village on Sept. 29 between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. 

"Investigators are also interested in dashcam footage of Amy's vehicle in the Waiparous Village area between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. that same day," said the release. 

In the meantime, Miller said they will keep searching until they run out of clues and they've covered their target area, however long it takes. 

"The family is obviously worried about where abouts Amy is and what might have happened to her."