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Mom of slain Canadian toddler says man charged was friend

BLAIRMORE, Alberta -- The mother of a two-year-old girl killed in western Canada broke down in tears after an old friend of hers was charged with first-degree murder.

Cheyenne Dunbar, 20, said Wednesday she has no idea why someone would have wanted to harm her daughter, Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette.

Hailey was the subject of an Amber Alert earlier this week that stretched across Western Canada and into the U.S.

Police say Derek James Saretzky, 22, faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Hailey and her father Terry Blanchette, 27.

Her body was found Tuesday near the southwestern Alberta town of Blairmore and her father's body was discovered Monday.

Dunbar says Saretzky used to be friends, but they hadn't spoken in years, reports the Calgary Herald.

"It tears me apart knowing friends would do something like that," she said, reports the paper.

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