Months after the killing of a young mother inside her Alberta apartment, and the presumed death of her baby, the woman’s stepfather is holding onto hope that his granddaughter is still alive.

“I like to think that she’s still alive. That’s my hope,” said Ross Learn, stepfather of Ayla Egotik-Learn who was discovered dead inside her apartment two months ago.

“Whether that’s realistic or not, that’s another story, but that’s what I’m clinging to.” 

The 23-year-old Inuk mother, from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, was discovered dead in January, inside her home in the city of St. Albert, northwest of Edmonton. 

RCMP were called to the apartment after an attempted eviction resulted in the discovery of her remains and a suspicious package that led police to believe Egotik-Learn’s infant daughter, Brayley, had also been harmed. 

The baby has never been found; police continue to search for her remains.

Learn, who lives in Iqaluit, told CBC News Wednesday that he never had a chance to meet his beloved granddaughter.

He said he’d hoped to meet her while visiting Edmonton in October but his repeated messages to Egotik-Learn went unanswered.

After Egotik-Learn’s mother, Andrea, reached out, they received a reply from the young mom’s phone number stating that she and the baby were too sick for visitors.

“I had hoped that, prior to me coming back home, that I’d be able to have at least one visit with them,” he said. “But that never happened.”

This week, Alberta RCMP said that was likely already dead at that time.

RCMP said Tuesday that Egotik-Learn probably died in September — four months before her body was found — and not in December as was first announced.

Partner charged in woman’s death

Learn said the new timeline has left him haunted.

He said the family had continued to receive messages from Egotik-Learn’s phone and social media accounts throughout the autumn and into December.

On Tuesday, RCMP said that they now believe the baby’s remains were discarded in a garbage bin near the Sturgeon Point Villas Apartments where Egotik-Learn’s body was found.

Christopher Beasley, 33, the baby’s father and Egotik-Learn’s common-law partner, is charged with one count of second-degree murder in Egotik-Learn’s death and two counts of indignity to a body. He remains in custody.

Learn called the allegations “evil,” adding, “To me, it’s just unimaginable.” 

Learn said Beasley and Egotik-Learn had been together more than four years after meeting while working at a remote northern mining camp. 

He told CBC that the relationship was tumultuous, saying he took numerous distressed calls from his daughter after arguments between her and Beasley.

RCMP have described the killing as a domestic violence case.

“She didn’t know what to do. Her mom and I tried to give her the best advice, to our knowledge, to try and have her in a better place,” Learn said.

“But as I said, I had no indication that it would escalate to this.” 

Court records show the relationship had a history of abuse.

At the time of Egotik-Learn’s death, Beasley was on probation for assaulting her last year. Beasley had been sentenced to 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to attacking her during an altercation in 2025. 

He had also been charged with assaulting and threatening to kill Egotik-Learn in early 2025 but the charges were withdrawn. 

Learn said the family believed the couple had separated after a protection order was issued last year.  

He said Egotik-Learn had moved back north briefly last summer but eventually returned to St. Albert. 

“Her mom regularly offered to have her stay there, to be safe,” Learn said. “I wish she had taken her up on that offer.”

The search for Braylee

RCMP on Tuesday renewed a plea for the public’s help, seeking anyone who disposed of furniture at the Sturgeon Point Villas dumpsters between mid-September and mid-November.

The information, police say, could prove critical in their search for the baby’s remains. 

“I hope that somebody saw something, that somebody could provide some information,” Learn said.

“Just to bring closure for her mom and for myself.”