THE CANADIAN PRESS
Two men have been arrested in B.C. in connection with the beating and disappearance of an Alberta man.
Insp. Gibson Glavin says RCMP in Cranbrook, B.C., arrested the men Sunday after spotting them in a 2008 Dodge Charger, which officers have been watching for since an assault was reported by a passing motorist near Cochrane, Alta., on March 29.
RCMP say they believe the victim of that assault was 32-year-old Nicholas Lush, who Glavin says was reported missing at about the same time.
Police say the men have been returned to Alberta to face charges in Lush’s disappearance, but their identities have not been released and the charges they’ll face won’t be available until Monday.
Glavin says a motive for the attack or the disappearance isn’t known, although he believes investigators will get closer to learning it now that the two men are in custody.
Glavin says police hope Lush is still alive, noting they don’t have any reason to believe otherwise.
“We’re going to hope, and continue to hope, that he’ll be found alive until evidence leads us to no longer have that hope,” Glavin said Sunday.
Glavin said the witness last month told police that two men were beating a third man outside of a vehicle that was parked on Highway 1 near Cochrane. The witness said all three men then took off in the vehicle.
Glavin said the suspects were arrested in Cranbrook without incident.
The Dodge Charger has been secured for forensic examination.
Lush, who is from the Calgary area, is not known to police, Glavin said. Police are asking for the public’s help to find him.
Lush is Caucasian, five-feet-two-inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown eyes, brown hair and numerous tattoos. He was last seen wearing a black “Sons of Anarchy” T-shirt, a green camouflage spring jacket, blue jeans, and black DC running shoes.
