Calgary police officers are commenting on the “power of social media” after a local nine-year-old boy with autism was found safe and sound just hours after he went missing. Police issued a notice on Friday afternoon for a nine-year-old boy who went missing from the northwest community of Panorama Hills just before 1 p.m. About 40 minutes after the notice was issued, police said the boy had been found safe. “After our media relations unit had sent out a message on social media referring to the little boy (going) missing, a family was kind enough and courageous enough to head out and help the Calgary Police Service locate the little boy,” CPS Acting Staff Sgt. Matt Binda told CTV News. Binda said the search effort went back to the “power of community” that formed when 11-year-old Parker Wells went missing earlier this year and prompted droves of volunteers to join the search for the vulnerable autistic child. Parker, who went missing from his dayhome on July 15, was located deceased in what police described as a “labyrinth” of tunnels underneath the city near Deerfoot Trail on July 29. It was ultimately a volunteer searcher who provided police with the tip that lead to his body being found. “I think it speaks to what after happened with Parker on how the community came together,” Binda said. He added the missing child who was found Friday, who CTV News is not naming, and his family were “extremely happy” after he was found.
