With the search for a missing 11-year-old boy from Calgary, named Parker, into its seventh day, police are renewing their plea for home and business owners in and around the area where he disappeared to search their properties.
Parker was last seen in person at his dayhome in the 0 to 100 block Connaught Drive, near Northmount Drive Northwest, sometime between 11:08 a.m. and 11:41 a.m. on July 16.
He was last spotted on a CCTV camera at around 12:52 p.m. the same day in the 5000 to 6000 block of Travis Crescent N.E.
With no sign of him since then, an Amber Alert was issued for Parker on Saturday, July 18.
On Tuesday, Calgary police posted a map on social media detailing the route the boy is believed to have travelled and on Wednesday, they renewed a call for people who have homes or businesses in the area to search their properties.
“Through the coming days, we ask our residents to continually check their properties,” said acting Staff Sgt. Scott Gundersen. “Check their garages, their sheds, any boats that may be stored at their homes, any RVs, any vehicles, trucks, any area where someone of Parker’s size could be found.”
“We’re asking any realtors or any landlords that are aware of vacant properties, check them and check them again. We know that Parker was mobile, and just because a particular address check negative at a certain time and date doesn’t mean that Parker could not be there.”
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Calgary police also took to social media on Wednesday to provide a video with some tips on how people can effectively search their properties.
Sgt. Chris Martin said in the video that, “Over the years, I’ve found missing people in all sorts of places that didn’t make sense to me, but at the time made sense to that person.”
Among the places he said should be checked are inside stacks of tires, around piles of wood or yard debris, under piles of junk, between fences and hedges, under decks, inside BBQ cabinets, garbage cans, water barrels, hot tubs or a pool and anywhere a child may seek shelter from the heat.
“Open the cover. Have a complete look,” said Martin.
“A small person, especially a small child, can hide in very, very small, tight spaces. Again, it might not make sense to you, but it may make sense to them.”
While police are asking Calgarians to thoroughly check their own property and any public spaces they have access to, they are also advising people to “not enter or search private property without permission.”
Gundersen said anyone living in the area near where Parker was last seen and who has neighbours who aren’t home or knows of a vacant property should contact the property owner and tell them to call police.
Specifically, he said police are interested in any vacant properties on Travis Street Northeast, Travis Crescent, Trail Drive, Taylor Crescent, Travis Place and Thomas Street Northeast.
“If Parker was in an abandoned home, it is our understanding that he would be able to use the tap to get water, and he would know to use the fridge to get food, which is one of the reasons why we’re asking those vacant homes or those homes where the occupants are on vacation to be checked and double checked,” Gunderson said.
Police have said that Parker is neurodivergent and non-verbal and may become frightened if approached by strangers.
He is also known to enter accessible buildings and to lock doors behind him.
So anyone who does spot the missing boy is being told not to approach him, but keep him in sight and call 9-1-1 immediately.
Police estimate more than 400 officers have been involved in the search for Parker, along with hundreds of search and rescue crews and volunteers.
So far they’ve investigated more than 400 tips, and more than 1,000 CCTV camera images from over 150 locations.
Asked how long the search will continue before police consider scaling it back, Gundersen responded by saying, “There may come a time when we have exhausted all the reasonable searches for Parker, but that day is not today.”
“We are not going to give up. The missing person investigation will continue until he is found.”
However, describing Parker’s disappearance as “an extremely exceptional situation,” Gundersen also added, “I cannot recall a time in the city where a missing child has been missing for this long.”
Can police use sniffing dogs to locate Parker
are police at all considering he was taken by a pervert after he walked away from care home???
I am amazed that there is very little, 3 last I heard, Videos of this poor little man.
Unless the police decided not to make public. I find this alarming people haven’t checked their videos, dash cams.