{"id":815145,"date":"2026-07-20T23:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T23:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/815145\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T23:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T23:23:21","slug":"police-warn-ai-images-clouding-search-for-missing-11-year-old-boy-in-calgary-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/815145\/","title":{"rendered":"Police warn AI images clouding search for missing 11-year-old boy in Calgary \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

CALGARY \u2013 Misinformation spreading online about a missing boy with autism in Calgary is taking away resources in finding him, police said Monday as the search entered its fifth day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parker, who is non-verbal, was last seen Thursday at his care home in Calgary\u2019s north end, and police have said foul play is not considered a factor.<\/p>\n

Acting Staff Sgt. Scott Guterson said altered images and videos created with artificial intelligence have been shared online claiming to show the 11-year-old boy or providing information about his whereabouts.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Parker,
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParker, an 11-year-old non-verbal boy with autism seen in this undated photo, went missing from a day home in Calgary’s north end Thursday July 16, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Handout – Calgary Police (Mandatory Credit)<\/p>\n

One false report said the boy had been found dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s a massive waste of time and it takes away the resources that we need to find Parker and bring him home,\u201d Guterson told a news conference Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe internet is a big, wild place and, as an organization, we don\u2019t have the ability to stop bad information from going out. All we can do is ask people to put yourselves in the shoes of the family. What might seem like something funny for a few seconds can be absolutely devastating to the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calgary police also took to social media to ask people to refrain from sharing altered images of Parker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said the search continues. \u201cWe\u2019ve had about 175 tips come in from the public that we are currently investigating,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An Amber Alert was issued for Parker two days after he disappeared. Disappearances do not meet the legal criteria for such an alert, but the Alberta government granted an exemption due to the circumstances of the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police have said Parker left the day home sometime between 11:08 a.m. and 11:41 a.m. on Thursday. Articles of clothing believed to belong to him were found nearby.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterward, he was captured on CCTV footage without a shirt and wearing black noise-cancelling headphones.<\/p>\n

More than 300 Calgary police officers have been involved in the search for Parker, in addition to 120 trained volunteers co-ordinated through Search and Rescue Alberta.<\/p>\n

He also asked Calgarians to check their properties thoroughly, including garages, sheds, backyards, hot tubs, swimming pools, decks and other places where a child may seek shelter or hide.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnywhere where Parker could fit, we need the people to check and keep checking until we find him,\u201d Guterson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added that people should call police immediately if they find Parker, but he is not to be approached in order to not scare him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are exploring all avenues, but at this point there is no evidence to indicate that anyone has taken Parker,\u201d Guterson said.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u2014 By Daniela Germano in Edmonton\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CALGARY \u2013 Misinformation spreading online about a missing boy with autism in Calgary is taking away resources in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":["post-815145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}