Family and friends of Darius MacDougall gathered in front of Lethbridge city hall on Tuesday night for a rally in the boy’s honour. It’s been one year since he disappeared. Those in attendance held up signs and wore shirts with the boy’s face on them. Darius’ family believes he’s still out there, somewhere. “If you see anything here, know anything — say something,” said Darius’ mother, Meagan Bernicky. “Just keep sharing his face out there. Keep getting them out there. Don’t stop. We’re never going to stop until we find him — never going to give up hope that we find him.” Darius, who is autistic and non-verbal, went missing Sept. 21, 2025, during a camping trip in the Crowsnest Pass near Island Lake. An 11-day search by more than 400 police officers and professional search and rescue crews covered 22-square-kilometres of forests, rivers and mountains. Despite the use of helicopters, drones, horses, infrared and solar cameras, the search turned up nothing. “It’s harder than it was a year ago, because there’s no answers,” Bernicky said. “There’s nothing at this time. We’re still at a loss of where our kid is.” An online petition named “Darius’s Law” continues to collect signatures calling for a reform to Canada’s Amber Alert system. The document saw a renewed interest in July when 11-year-old Parker Wells went missing in Calgary. Wells, who also had autism, was found deceased inside a stormwater pipe near Deerfoot Trail after a near two-week search. “It’s taken a year. It’s taken, unfortunately, the tragedy of Parker Wells, as well as this petition, to really get the conversation around Amber Alert reform going,” said petition organizer Ronnie Degagne. To date, RCMP have received more than 70 tips from the public about Darius. They say each one has been investigated.
