A body believed to be that of a non-verbal autistic boy was found Wednesday following a desperate two-week search. On Thursday, the ongoing outcry for change in how we keep all children safe and how we handle the nightmare scenario of any child going missing. An Amber Alert was issued for 11-year-old Parker Wells more than 48 hours after he went missing. It was not initially issued because there was no evidence he’d been abducted. Jen Ball, whose son is also non-verbal and autistic, launched an online petition calling either for broader Amber Alert criteria or the creation of a separate “Indigo Alert.” Wednesday, Ball said she was devastated to hear the developments in Parker’s case. It’s believed Parker entered a culvert and travelled through a series of pipes in the city’s Skyline West and Skyline East neighbourhoods. Police found the body in a small pipe on the east side of Deerfoot Trail. Ball, over the course of the search, has said Parker would be found in a place no one would think to go. “I just don’t know how many more children have to go through something like this, and we have to lose them, for a change to happen,” she said. “Autism is everywhere, and society doesn’t understand it.” Pierre Poilievre, leader of the federal Conservative Party, also has a child with autism. He said Thursday on social media he and his wife “are so heartbroken for Parker and his family.” “We must find ways to keep all our children safe, especially kids with autism and others who face special challenges and risks,” he said. Poilievre said the best way to honour Parker is to “work with the autism community to find solutions and save lives.” Premier Danielle Smith recently spoke of Parker’s case not initially fitting the criteria required to call for the Amber Alert. On her Saturday call-in radio program, Your Province, Your Premier, Smith said it’s “very key to have local law enforcement have the latitude to make that call.” Ball said she and others will continue to “fight for change in Parker’s name.” “If they open the parameters for Amber Alert and include all children, I am more than happy with that,” she said. “If they take the Indigo Alert and they implement it, I’d be more than happy with that.” At the time of this writing, Ball’s online petition had just shy of 24,000 signatures attached. With files from CTV News’ Kathy Le
