The search for missing Calgary boy Parker, 11, continues on Saturday, 10 days after the child went missing.
Police have closed the west parking lot and pathway entrance to Nose Hill Park, off Shaganappi Trail N.W., in an effort to ensure safe and efficient search operations in the area. The closure will remain in place throughout the weekend.
“The closure should not be interpreted as an indication that Parker has been located or that investigators have information placing him in this area,” Calgary Police said in a statement Saturday morning.
Alternate access points to the park are still open to residents, but those visiting are asked to avoid the area where search teams are working.
Dozens of signs for missing boy Parker, 11, line the fence of the Thorncliffe Greenview Community Centre.
Parker was last seen Thursday, July 16, at 12:52 p.m., shirtless and wearing dark shorts and black noise-cancelling headphones. He is described as 4-feet-11-inches tall, weighing approximately 90 pounds, with brown hair, a shaved head and brown eyes.
He has autism spectrum disorder and is non-verbal, and may become scared if approached by strangers. Members of the public are asked not to approach him if he’s spotted, but instead to call 911 immediately and keep him in sight.
In a video posted to social media Saturday morning, Deputy Operations Chief and Search Manager Sgt. Rich Wall thanked Calgarians for their continued search efforts over the last 10 days.
“We need the natural surveillance of the community, and the people of Calgary, and all the visitors, to try and find Parker. You’ve done a great job, and we ask you to keep going with that because that’s what we need,” he said.
“We are desperate for information.”
Civilian search efforts, he said, have so far not interfered with police operations — and any hint of Parker’s whereabouts could be crucial to the investigation.
“We’re at a point of frustration,” Wall said. “We’ve got to find that little bit of information that gives us more of a bigger picture as to where Parker went.”
The volunteer search coordination area at Thorncliffe Greenview Community Association is a beehive of activity as citizens from all over Calgary and area register to search for Parker in this photo from Tuesday, July 21.
In addition to continued community search efforts, police continue to ask anyone in the Thorncliffe area who may have CCTV, residential security camera and dashcam footage from Thursday, July 16, to now, regardless of whether Parker is seen, to submit the footage to police online.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477, or online at the Crime Stoppers website or the P3 Tips app.
All residents are also asked to thoroughly check their properties, looking anywhere a small child could hide. Realtors and property managers are asked to ensure any vacant properties have been searched.
According to police, Parker has a history of entering structures and locking doors behind him.
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Despite frustrations, the search for Parker remains CPS’s highest priority, and Wall said the amount of resources that have been employed so far has been “astronomical.”
“Every single resource that is at the hands of the Calgary Police Service to try and find Parker has been utilized,” he said.
Though there have been no confirmed sightings of Parker since the day he went missing, police are utilizing expertise around lost person behaviour, factoring in Parker’s disability and movements as well as environmental influences, and other search management principles to help guide the search.
“The commitment from the service, from all the different partners, has been unwavering,” Wall said. “We have had officers that are here on their days off. They just want to find him, and they just want to bring him home.”