{"id":816538,"date":"2026-07-21T14:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/816538\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T14:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:47:09","slug":"search-for-missing-calgary-boy-hampered-by-misinformation-spreading-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/816538\/","title":{"rendered":"Search for missing Calgary boy hampered by misinformation spreading online"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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. <\/p>\n<p><a style=\"display:block\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/resizer\/v2\/OLCD3ETDT5D3RPEELS7QDLTVWA.jpg?auth=5d13d50f64be40af2708c960f1fc1779d39aeceb14888791d4fabd405fd859c2&amp;width=600&amp;height=400&amp;quality=80&amp;smart=true\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" data-photo-viewer-index=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"figcap-text\">Eleven-year-old Parker, who is non-verbal, was last seen Thursday at his care home in Calgary\u2019s north end.Calgary Police\/via The Canadian Press<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">One false report said the boy had been found dead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Calgary police also took to social media to ask people to refrain from sharing altered images of Parker. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">He said the search continues. \u201cWe\u2019ve had about 175 tips come in from the public that we are currently investigating,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text mv-16 l-inset text-pb-8\" data-sophi-feature=\"interstitial\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/canada\/article-missing-calgary-boy-autistic-police-disney\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Police play Disney music from cruisers as volunteers join search for missing Calgary boy<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Shortly afterward, he was captured on CCTV footage without a shirt and wearing black noise-cancelling headphones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\u201cAnywhere where Parker could fit, we need the people to check and keep checking until we find him,\u201d Guterson said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">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<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Misinformation spreading online about a missing boy with autism in Calgary is taking away resources in finding him,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":816539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,2798,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-816538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816538","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=816538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}