The family of a missing five-year-old boy, who vanished with his grandparents more than a week ago, joined a community vigil Thursday night as police continued to search for clues.

Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents Alvin and Kathryn Liknes were last seen 11 days ago.

The candlelight vigil was held at a community centre in Calgary’s Park Hill neighbourhood.

‘I thank you dearly, from the bottom of our hearts, for being a part of this,” Nathan’s mother told the crowd. “And we’re very hopeful that they’re out there. There’s no doubt in our mind.”

Earlier in the day, police were at a second dump Thursday to search for clues in the mysterious disappearance.

Investigators descended on the East Calgary Landfill early Thursday afternoon, a day after they searched the Spyhill Landfill in northwest Calgary.

Officials said landfill searches are standard procedure when it comes to major crime investigations. They said some items have been taken from the dump sites for analysis, but it’s not clear if they are relevant to the case.

Police officers also returned to a rural home near Airdrie, north of Calgary, Thursday to continue searching for clues in their disappearance.

Investigators have been at a rural property since Friday, combing through the home, the land and a nearby pond for any sign of the couple or their grandson.

Calgary police spokesperson Kevin Brookwell told reporters Thursday that a “quantity of chemicals” was found at the farm. That’s why an ambulance and firefighters were on the site Wednesday as a precaution as police officers searched the property, he said.

“At this time, we don’t know if it’s chemicals that are part of a typical farm operation or chemicals that could be used for something else,” Brookwell said. “It’s too early to speculate what those may be.”

He said experts are on the site to determine what types of chemicals are involved.

Brookwell said investigators remain “hopeful” that Nathan and his grandparents will be found.

“This is a very, very unique case,” he said, adding that he hasn’t seen anything like it in his 35 years on the job.

Meanwhile, a man police have identified as a person of interest in the disappearances will appear in court on Friday on an unrelated charge. Douglas Garland, whose parents own the property near Airdrie where police continue to search, is charged with identity theft in an unrelated case.

Garland will likely be released after his court appearance on Friday, so long as he can prove that he has a permanent address.

According to court records, Garland has a history of living under an assumed name and he spent time in jail for making amphetamines at his parents’ farm.

Garland was questioned by police over the weekend in relation to the missing persons’ case. But officers say he is not a suspect, and no charges have been laid against him in regards to the case. Police did confirm Tuesday that Garland has a connection to the Liknes couple -- his sister is in a relationship with a member of the Liknes family.

Asked whether police are investigating a possible business link between Garland and Alvin Liknes, Brokwell said “there is some business issues,” but he couldn’t get into specifics or say who was involved.