CALGARY — Calgarians journeyed Thursday to a north end park to hug, cry and honour the memory of an 11-year-old boy.
A makeshift memorial for Parker has grown one flower, candle and stuffed toy at a time on a footbridge in Laycock Park.
Natasha Courtney brought a bouquet of flowers. She spent 11 days searching for Parker.
“I just felt like I needed to bring something out. It’s just been really heartbreaking,” said Courtney. “I just woke up today with a heavy heart and I just had to come down here.”
Under the railing, four large squares of poster board hung to capture handwritten thoughts, best wishes and reminders – punctuated with heart icons – that gone does not mean forgotten.
“Parker,” reads one, “you are Calgary’s boy now.”
Courtney said her message urged the boy to enjoy “A Whole New World” – his favourite song, from the animated movie “Aladdin.”
“I probably listened to that about 30 times today,” she said.
Near the memorial is a culvert and a network of underground pipes. On Wednesday, searchers found the boy’s body in one of those pipes that run under the constant dust and roar of the Deerfoot Trail expressway.
Mikayla Williamson and her mother dropped off a panda bear. Both took part in the massive search for Parker.
“I think what stuck with me the most is he was a special-needs boy,” Mikayla said.
“My mom has been driving a special-needs bus for 14 years, and I have friends who have special-needs kids. I’m devastated to think what he was feeling when he was gone.”
Parker, who had autism and was non-verbal, wandered away from his daycare home just before lunchtime on July 16. Police have not released his last name.
The search for the boy that captured the attention and emotion of the city. Hundreds of police and volunteers checked and rechecked homes, boats, sheds, garages and waterways trying to find the child.
It was a complex undertaking complicated by Parker’s neurological condition.
Police cautioned that the boy could become more scared if confronted by strangers. Searchers played some of Parker’s favourite Disney songs from patrol vehicles to try to draw him out. Some left out Goldfish crackers.
On Monday, the search was called off pending new information. That information came Tuesday, when Parker’s shoe was located near the culvert, more than three kilometres from where he first wandered away.
Police said they believe he wandered into the culvert, then deeper into the labyrinth of pipes.
Parker was last seen in the Thorncliffe neighbourhood. In the days that followed his disappearance, posters with his photo were fastened to poles and fences. By Thursday morning, the posters were gone, only shreds of adhesive tape remaining.
The death touched leaders at all levels of government, with some putting heartfelt messages on social media.
“My deepest and most heartfelt condolences go out to Parker’s family and loved ones,” wrote Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “There is no greater heartbreak than the loss of a child.”
“My thoughts are with Parker’s family in Calgary tonight and all those who loved him,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a post Wednesday.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Alberta MP Mike Lake, both of whom have children with autism, called for changes to improve public alerts for children with autism.
“We know the extraordinary joy our children bring,” they said in a statement Thursday.
“Autistic children can (also) face additional risks, particularly those who are prone to wandering, are non-speaking, or may be unable to ask for help when they are lost.”
Amber Alerts are broadly disseminated warnings for children believed to have been abducted and in serious danger. In Parker’s case, an Amber Alert was issued as a special exemption on the second day of the search.
Because of Parker’s case, a group of mothers launched petitions urging officials to create similar alerts for neurodivergent children.
The National Autism Network said emergency alert systems and first-responder training need “urgent change” for vulnerable children.
The network said, “No child should be lost because the world does not yet know how to find them.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2026.
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
