He was a Harvard graduate with a MBA. He had volunteered to go to Vietnam and work with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He had served under two presidents as a public-policy adviser. He owned the Denver Broncos. He was heir to one of the largest health care organizations in America.

But when a family member of Edgar Kaiser Jr. came looking for help with mental illness and drug addiction in 1985, the Vancouver, B.C., resident was at a loss for answers.