As the search for missing 11-year-old Parker Wells enters its ninth day, volunteers are continuing to travel from communities across Alberta, determined to help bring the Calgary boy home. On Friday, police were conducting traffic stops in the Thorncliffe area, handing out information about Parker’s disappearance and encouraging residents to continue checking their properties or inform neighbours who may be returning from vacation about the ongoing search. Some volunteers have driven hundreds of kilometres. Some have been given time off work by their employers to join search efforts in Calgary’s northwest, where Parker was last seen on July 16. “I think it’s necessary just for relief and closure for everybody,” said Ashley Erick, who has travelled repeatedly from Millarville. “I think we need to keep looking as a community. It’s been extraordinary, seeing everyone coming together, and I think it’s meaningful and impactful for everybody.” The growing volunteer effort comes as police say they remain committed to finding Parker, despite more than a week of extensive searches involving hundreds of officers, trained search-and-rescue volunteers and members of the public. Volunteers answer the call Erick said she first learned Parker was missing the evening after he disappeared and made the decision the next morning to drive to Calgary. Although she has children of her own at home, Erick said she has continued returning whenever she can. “You just want to be positive because anything is possible,” she said. Donna Hamilton made the drive from Okotoks after hearing about Parker’s disappearance. “As a parent, you have the urge to want your child back no matter what,” she said. “I think it’s just horrific.” Hamilton, who grew up in the Thorncliffe area, said she wanted to do whatever she could to aid in the search efforts. “I hope to be of any help, and I hope more people can come out, too.” She also praised the response from police and the wider community. “I think everybody is pulling together,” said Hamilton. “It just shows that Calgary is a good place with good people.” Geoff Rowe travelled with his family from Red Deer after following daily updates online. “We were sitting at home and I was talking quite a bit to my wife throughout this, and it was troubling her a lot,” he said. “So I got up one morning, I was having coffee, and it came into my newsfeed, and I just decided to get my truck and come up here and see what I can do to help.” Rowe spent hours searching trail systems, green spaces and back alleys near Parker’s last known movements. “It’d be absolutely devastating to anybody that this would happen to their family,” he said. “You’d move the earth to try to find them. So, the least that I could do is come down and throw some support behind the community and the family.” Employers stepping up Others have been supported by employers willing to give staff time away from work. Alex Cox said his manager at Alberta Construction Rentals encouraged employees to organize volunteer search groups over multiple days. “Our manager gave us this opportunity, so we all came out to basically search where we feel we should,” Cox said. “Another group of us came out to do it yesterday, so it’s nice that our team is willing to let us come out and do what we can to help find Parker.” Despite hot temperatures and wildfire smoke over the past week, Cox said volunteers remain determined. “It’s fantastic to see people take time out of their day,” he said. “It’s unfortunate to see it happen in such a situation, but it’s nice that people are willing to band together and put in the effort to help find someone’s lost child.” While acknowledging the difficult conditions, Cox said he still believes there is reason for optimism. “I don’t think there’s any cause to lose hope yet at all,” he said. Search remains active Calgary police announced Friday that the command post supporting the search is being relocated from Thorncliffe School to Nose Hill Park. Police said the move is being made for operational reasons and will provide better access to facilities and resources needed to support ongoing search and investigative efforts, particularly in and around Nose Hill Park and other operational areas. “This relocation does not represent a demobilization of the response or a reduction in our commitment to the search,” police said in a statement. “Search and investigative efforts remain active, and resources continue to be deployed as investigators and search managers pursue all remaining avenues. “We have completed all checks. At this time, we have no evidence to suggest Parker was abducted or that a criminal offence has occurred.” Hundreds of tips investigated Parker disappeared from his day home in the 0 to 100 block of Connaught Drive N.W. on July 16 sometime between 11:08 a.m. and 11:41 a.m. Police say CCTV footage later confirmed his movements before he was last seen at 12:52 p.m. in the area of Travis Crescent N.E. Since then, the investigation has expanded into one of the largest missing-person searches Calgary has seen in recent years. Police say investigators have followed up on more than 400 tips and reviewed more than 1,000 CCTV video clips. Trained search teams, patrol officers, the HAWCS helicopter, drones equipped with thermal imaging, mounted officers, police dogs and Calgary Fire Department crews have also searched parks, waterways, storm infrastructure and green spaces across the city. Earlier this week, police renewed calls for homeowners, landlords, Realtors and property managers to repeatedly search homes, garages, sheds, trailers, RVs and vacant properties, particularly along Travis Street, Travis Crescent, Trelle Drive, Taylor Crescent, Travis Place and Thomas Street N.E. Investigators say Parker has a history of entering accessible structures and locking doors behind him, raising concerns he could be sheltering inside a building that has not yet been checked. Acting Staff Sgt. Scott Guterson said earlier this week that police won’t rest until they find answers. “We remain relentless in our commitment to finding answers to the question we are all asking: where is Parker?” Guterson said. “While there may come a time when all realistic search avenues have been exhausted, we will not give up, and we will continue the missing person investigation for as long as it takes.” Public urged to keep checking properties Police continue asking residents to thoroughly check their own properties and are requesting anyone in the Thorncliffe area with CCTV, residential security camera or dash-cam footage recorded since July 16 to submit it to investigators. Parker is described as five feet tall and about 90 pounds, with brown eyes, a shaved head and brown hair. He was last seen shirtless, wearing dark shorts and black noise-cancelling headphones. He is neurodivergent and non-verbal and may become frightened if approached by strangers. Police ask anyone who sees Parker not to approach him but instead keep him in sight and call 911 immediately. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers.
