Police end ground search for missing Calgary boy on Day 12, will still follow tips

CALGARY – Police ended the ground search for a Calgary boy on Monday, 12 days after the 11-year-old walked away from a daycare home.

Chief Katie McLellan said officers were refocusing their investigation into the disappearance of Parker.

Officers won’t stop looking for the boy, she said, and will review evidence, follow tips and pursue new leads.

“The reality that Parker remains missing is difficult for all of us,” McLellan told reporters. “We’re not giving up.”

The boy is autistic and non-verbal.

Police have not released his last name and said they don’t suspect foul play.

Hundreds of officers and volunteers have searched for the boy — on the ground and by air, in bodies of water and by knocking on doors.

Residents were asked to check backyards, sheds, garages and under decks.

Information provided by Parker’s family about his interests and behaviours helped guide some of the search. Officers played Parker’s favourite Disney songs from patrol vehicles to try to draw him out.

The search was complicated by Parker’s neurological condition.

Police cautioned that he could become scared if confronted by strangers. They asked members of the public not to approach the boy if they spotted him but to instead follow him and call police.

Parker disappeared just before noon on July 16 from his day home. Articles of clothing believed to be his were found nearby.

A short time later, he was captured on CCTV footage without a shirt and wearing black noise-cancelling headphones.

Early in the search, Parker’s family issued a statement describing him as a “loved son, brother and friend.”

“Our family is heartbroken by his disappearance. Since he went missing, our family has been living every parent’s worst nightmare,” they said. “Every hour that passes without knowing where he is or whether he is safe has been incredibly difficult for us.”

The search galvanized the public but also exposed problems with public participation in the age of social media.

Police waded through hundreds of tips and said they were slowed down by altered images and videos created with artificial intelligence claiming to show Parker or provide information about his whereabouts.

One false report said the boy had been found dead, and a fraudulent GoFundMe page was also started.

The search also raised questions about how to alert the public when vulnerable children disappear. Amber Alerts are broadcast for children who are abducted and in serious danger.

In Parker’s case, an Amber Alert was issued as a special exemption on  the second day of the search.

A group of mothers have started petitions to urge officials to launch similar broad outreach emergency messages for categories including neurodivergent children.

Inside the force’s tactical operations centre, a series of coloured maps outline areas of the city that searchers covered again and again in the search for Parker.

“We are very frustrated,” said Sgt. Rich Wall, adding officers spent more than 5,500 hours looking for the boy.

“Our areas of realistic search had been exhausted, but we are still carrying on. This is not the end,” he said.

“This is a jigsaw puzzle and we’re looking for the last little pieces to make the full picture.”

Wall added that the public shouldn’t underestimate Parker. “We know he has autism. But physically he is well, and he can walk far and fast.”

Acting Staff Sgt. Scott Guterson said people are still encouraged to send in tips and other information about Parker.

“Rather than searching a general area, we’re allowing the investigation to point where those specific pinpoint searches ought to happen.”

Guterson said police hope Parker is still alive. 

“But realistically every day that goes by makes that hope less likely, so we continue to ask the public for help.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2026.