Hot News: 'Stay strong,' urge family of missing Nathan O'Brien, 5, and his grandparents

A Calgary family called their missing son their superhero and asked him to stay strong as he and his grandparents remain the subject of a search.

An Amber Alert is still in effect for Nathan O'Brien, 5, after he and his grandparents - Kathryn Liknes, 53, and Alvin Liknes, 66 - were discovered missing Monday morning.

The boy's parents, Rod and Jennifer O'Brien, spoke to media Wednesday afternoon.

'Nathan, you are our superhero right now and we're going to bring you home very soon,' said Rod O'Brien.

The boy's mother went to pick up Nathan at his grandparents' home in the southwest neighbourhood of Parkhill after he had slept over Sunday night.

But Nathan and his grandparents were gone, and there were signs that they had not left willingly, according to police.

Nathan has blond curly hair, brown eyes and was wearing peach-coloured shorts and a striped blue hoodie when he was last seen.

His grandmother has red-brown hair and green eyes and was last seen wearing pyjamas. Alvin Liknes has grey-blond hair and was last seen wearing black sports shorts. He walks with a slight limp.

They are not considered suspects in the boy's abduction, police say. Estate sale customers asked to come forward

Calgary police are asking anyone who attended an estate sale that the grandparents held at their home on the weekend to come forward. The couple had been planning to move to Edmonton.

Investigators will be at the Parkhill Community Centre located at 4013 Stanley Road S.W. on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. MT to speak with anyone who attended the sale.

Police are asking anyone who bought something to bring a photo of the item to help investigators catalogue what was purchased and what remains at the home. Reward not a good idea: police chief

Responding to media reports that the family of the missing boy and grandparents is considering offering a large cash reward for information about their disappearance, Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson advised against it.

'I think it's important to allow the police to do their job, let the resources be applied,' he said.

Hanson said the promise of a reward could do more harm than good by promoting inaccurate information and distracting investigators.

Anyone with information can call the Calgary Police Service at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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