Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 17

Section The Boss finds hope amid despair Arts Style, Page B8 Search it, find it, buy it Classified, Page BIO -4 2 '3T 4S- iW S. ffeS. wS" us sr ss- ss- -gi; Editor: John Gradon 235-7569 canada.comcalgarVcalgaryherald Tuesday, July 30, 2002 HvV, ft ft II II a. mm mm m. ffll II El 'W IV II RCMP troll Net in Pincher murders THIS MAN'S BEST FRIEND Police post 1 photos, appeal for aid in cold case EMMA POOLE Calgary Herald Dolice investigating the murder of a southern Alberta Mountie and his girl-W friend are spreading their dragnet to the World Wide Web.

Photos of Sgt. Peter Sopow and Lorraine McNab, coupled with an appeal for information leading to their killer, have popped up on the RCMP's national Internet site under the "Wanted by the RCMP" heading. Investigators with the Calgary major crimes unit say the 4-year-old murder remains a priority for the RCMP, even though the case gets colder everyday. "(It's) just another avenue of investigation. We want to keep the case alive and active," said Sgt.

Perry Kuzma. "We're still forging ahead with the case." Legitimate leads into the 4 aiiiliE ffrntnfJUtnmfwm-im Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald Denise and Ivor Kavin credit their poodle, Nelson, for saving Ivor's life. The incident will be featured on the television show Animal Miracles in the fall. TV turns spotlight on pound pup Poodle alerts wife to husband's convulsions 2P SEAN MYERS Calgary Herald A small poodle named after Nelson Mandela is about to bask in his 15 minutes of fame. Adopted by Ivor and Denise Kavin after being found near death abandoned in a ditch, Nelson returned the favour last winter by saving bis master's life Now the pooch's heroics are being recounted for an episode of Animal Miracles, to be aired on the Life Network this falL The tale begins about a year ago when Ivor Kavin developed an infection.

Unknown to Ivor, his health began to deteriorate over the next few months, although he felt OK. Ivor would find out later that he never fully recovered from the infection because of a previously undiagnosed condition called sleep apnea, which caused him to stop breathing while he slept One night last December, Ivor started convulsing in bed. In considerable discomfort, he was shivering but covered in sweat and becoming delirious. But Ivor was unable to wake up Denise, who had taken two painkillers with codeine to dull the pain of recent surgery on her hand. So plucky little Nelson leapt into action to wake up Denise.

The black poodle climbed up on her and whimpered, nibbled on her ear and hair, then finally tried to pull out her earplugs. Upset with Nelson, Denise sat up, ready to push the dog off the bed then noticed her husband in distress. His right K-COUNTRY 'Missing' man frustrated searchers JASON van RASSEL and SCOTT CROWSON Calgary Herald A Calgary man reported missing in Kananaskis Country for a week seemed to be avoiding help, claim police and search-and-rescue officials, but David Pearce's wife says he simply did not realize people were looking for him. She denied Monday that the experienced outdoorsman was deliberately evading rescuers. Search officials said the experience was frustrating.

"We spent a lot of time, effort and money looking for him," said Guy SosnosW of Foothills Search and Rescue, whose volunteers spent three days hunting for Pearce. One searcher riding an all-terrain vehicle needed to be hospitalized after hurting his head in a spill Sunday, said Sos-noski apparently after Pearce had called family members on Saturday night to come pick him up in High River. "They didn't even need to be out there," Sosnoski said. See MISSING, Page B4 leg was bright red and had swelled up like a ballooa She rushed Ivor to the hospital At Rockyview Hospital, Ivor was told the leg had to be amputated to save his life. His doctor, however, tried a potent new antibiotic that succeeded in bringing down the swelling, saving the leg.

"The doctor said the dog saved Ivor's life," says Denise. "Because if I hadn't woken up, there was no way he would've lasted the night" The couple recently told the story of Nelson's quick thinking to Animal Miracles. They adopted the poodle from Pound Rescue, an animal shelter based in Okotoks, after he had been found near death in a ditch by the side of a highway outside the town south of Calgary in February 2000. well however. "Five days before I did this delivery, I delivered a stillborn," he said "It was hard to get through." For paramedic Jon Mawer, this was his second delivery.

"It was an exciting, very positive experience," he said. "The mother cried all the way to the hospital. She was pretty thrilled. "It was very overwhelming for everybody involved," Mawer said AMBULANCE BIRTH 1997 murder of 52-year-old Sopow, who was the officer of the Fort Macleod RCMP detachment, and McNab, Peter Sopow 47, a teacher, have been sporadic. The most recent tip that promised a clue into the homicides came in the form of two anonymous letters sent to Kuzma's office in Calgary last summer.

The first letter, postmarked from an undisclosed location in southern Alberta, came in August 2001. The second handwritten letter came about a month later and was also addressed to Kuzma at his office. It's believed the author of the letters is not someone police have interviewed about the murders. Sopow and McNab were found dead on McNab's acreage near Pincher Creek on Dec. 15, 1997.

They hadn't been seen for two days. See MURDER, Page B4 Calgary Herald Archive Sgt. Perry Kuzma inspects files on Peter Sopow case." '9 W'i" I I 1 a -ft Rush delivery old hat for paramedics SCOTT CROWSON Calgary Herald Delivering babies is getting to be a habit for a trio of city paramedics. Collectively, they've been involved in 18 births. "It's a unique call If not a call that we get on a regular basis," said Jim Calnan of Calgary Emergency Medical Services.

"It's a real pleasure to have these type of incidents take place. It's a wonderful feeling quick: "We just had time to close the ambulance doors." Calnan has now helped to deliver six babies in his career. "I was running on adrenaline for several hours afterward." This was the ioth birth that colleague Mike Damforth has been involved with. "It's why I became a paramedic," he said. "It's one of the most surreal experiences you'll ever have in your life." Not all pregnancy calls go to know that your hands are the first to touch this little one that's come into the world." The latest came Sunday when a 20-year-old woman went into labour in Chinatown.

Her husband ran into a restaurant and called oil Less than a minute after paramedics arrived, a girl weighing five pounds, nine ounces was born in the back of an ambulance about 6:30 p.m. If the couple's third child. Calnan said the delivery was 1 1 I I Mil FAIvlOUSFORRIBS V-J 1 ri -Yi i.