Amber Lucius, young girl found dead near Sundre, caught in custody battle: court documents
CBC News | Posted: September 5, 2014 10:21 PM | Last Updated: September 9, 2014
9-year-old was going into Grade 4 at the Pipestone School west of Wetaskiwin, Alta.
CBC News is learning more about the woman now in police custody following the discovery of her daughter's body in a vehicle near Sundre.
Amber Lucius, who lived in a rural area near Wetaskiwin, was found Tuesday.
- Amber Lucius, 9, identified as young girl found dead near Sundre
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Court documents detail a long, bitter custody battle between 47-year-old Laura Coward and her husband, Duane Lucius.
Coward and her husband separated in October 2007 after nearly three years of marriage.
There were at least 10 subsequent court orders directing Coward to provide Duane Lucius with access to Amber — which Coward did not comply with.
Eventually, in June 2013, Duane Lucius was granted full custody and Coward was given prescribed visits.
But in April 2014, Coward failed to return the child after a visit and Wetaskiwin RCMP were called.
Then last week a judge granted Coward visitation rights for four days.
But a court document filed Tuesday — the same day the girl was found dead — shows Coward did not return Amber by 6 p.m. Sunday, as ordered by the court.
RCMP to review Amber Alert protocols
But there was no Amber Alert issued after the young girl was not returned to her father.
"The dad did know that the little girl was with her mother for that weekend," said RCMP Cpl. Sharon Franks.
"And my understanding is that they may have had an arrangement to a drop-off time that may not have been followed."
The RCMP say they will be reviewing their Amber Alert protocols following her death.
RCMP say the death is suspicious and they hope to lay charges in the near future. The cause of death is not yet known as police are awaiting autopsy results.
"RCMP officers came across the vehicle while they were in the process of following up on a hang-up 911 call that was made from the area earlier that afternoon," said RCMP in a release.
The girl's mother was found near the vehicle and taken into custody. Franks said Coward was in the Sundre area to visit a friend.
Laura Coward, 47, is charged with break and enter and abduction in contravention of a custody order. Coward will make her first court appearance in Didsbury on Monday.
Girl's school devastated by news
Amber was supposed to go into Grade 4 at Pipestone School west of Wetaskiwin this week.
It's a small rural school with fewer than 100 children, and students and staff there are devastated at the news of her death.
The superintendent of the Wetaskiwin school division describes her as a popular girl who had a lot of friends.
She attended Pipestone School in Grade 3 last year.
Counsellors have been at the school every day this week offering support to the girl's friends and teachers.
The superintendent says its a school where lots of families are friends outside class and do things like go to church together.