Family and friends of Lyle and Marie McCann held a memorial service to remember the pair Saturday, the day the missing Alberta couple would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary.

The McCanns were last seen on July 3, 2010, gassing up their motorhome in St. Albert, just outside Edmonton. They were embarking on a road trip to British Columbia, but their charred RV was found in a backwoods campground about 200 kilometres west of Edmonton on July 5. The SUV the couple had been towing was found abandoned four days later.

"It's like a book with no end. We need to find an end to complete the story," one relative, Murray McCann told the service at a Catholic Church overlooking the couple's hometown on Saturday.

During the service, which was also attended by wel-wishers with no direct connection to the couple, Lyle was remembered as a story-telling retiree who had left behind a life as a long-haul trucker, while Marie was praised for her loud laugh and pie-baking skills.

In lieu of flowers for the service, the family requested that donations be made to the Search and Rescue Association of Alberta, a volunteer organization that has been involved with search efforts for the missing couple.

The gratitude to those who have searched fruitlessly for Lyle and Marie was evident during the service, as attendees buirst into applause when two members of the search and rescue team were asked to stand.

After the service, mourners were given envelopes containing rose petals to be deposited at the cemetery plots that the elderly couple had previously purchased.

The couple's son, Bret McCann, has said he hopes one day the actual remains of his parents will be buried there, but the RCMP has so far been unable to locate the McCanns.

Last week, an Edmonton court granted an order declaring Lyle and Marie McCann officially dead, freeing their family to begin processing wills and handling the pair's estate.

Bret said the court was given a letter from the RCMP explaining that his parents were probably murdered.

He told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday that reading the words "murdered" associated with his parents was difficult and came as a shock.

He also said he met with police on Monday, however there was still "no new news."

The investigation into the unresolved disappearance of the couple is still open, and saw RCMP searching dense bush in an area of west-central Alberta just last month.

The Mounties say they have named a person of interest in their investigation, but no arrests have been made.

Travis Vader remains in custody on unrelated charges.

A $60,000 reward is still available for information about the McCanns' disappearance.

With files from CTV's Kevin Armstrong in St. Albert and The Canadian Press