Call for Amber Alert as five-year-old boy missing for 11 days
Indigenous leaders urged police Friday to issue an Amber Alert for a five-year-old Saskatchewan boy missing for 11 days.
Red Earth Cree Nation, the Prince Albert Grand Council and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents 74 Saskatchewan First Nations, said they had been in touch with provincial and federal officials about activating the emergency alert.
“The response we are getting is it has to fit a criteria in order to activate an Amber Alert,” said Chief Fabian Head of Red Earth Cree Nation.
RCMP Sgt. Richard Tonge said the topic had been discussed at various levels.
An Amber Alert, with up-todate details and a description of a child, must be authorized by police and is typically sent out through television broadcasts, cellphone notifications and roadway signs. It’s meant to make the public aware that a child is missing so as to call in any sightings or tips.
Tonge said Amber Alerts are issued only when there’s evidence a child has been abducted and there’s concern for the child’s safety. “We don’t have evidence of those things happening in this case,” Tonge said.
However, he said, officers have no physical evidence of what happened to Frank Young, so they cannot rule out abduction or criminal involvement.
Frank was last seen by his family about noon on April 19 on the Red Earth reserve, about 220 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert. A witness reported a sighting at a playground several hours later in the north end of the community.
More than 200 volunteers have been searching a 90-square-kilometre area, primarily south of Frank’s home, as well as the area near the playground and along the nearby Carrot River.
Some have been using allterrain vehicles to search marshes, too wet to search by foot, near the playground.
With the weather warming up, searchers have been able to cover new ground.
An abandoned blue jacket, similar in colour to one Frank was wearing, was found in the north end. But after seeing the jacket, the family said it did not belong to the boy, police said.
“Obviously, as the days go by, the concern for Frank grows. We are in Day 11 of this intensive search and in each passing day, in each passing hour, our concern continues to intensify,” Tonge said.
“That being said, our resolve hasn’t changed. Our commitment hasn’t changed and our goal is to find Frank Young and bring him back to his family.”
Tonge said RCMP have received tips from as far away as Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., about sightings of the boy, but they have been discounted.
He also ruled out a rumour circulating on the video-sharing app TikTok that Frank’s footprints were found in the community.