CALGARY -- Although the pandemic has forced many children to remain at home as part of containment measures, the risk for them to go missing remains high, according to a Calgary-based organization focused on helping families find loved ones.
The Missing Children Society of Canada held a webinar with its international partners on Thursday and a national representative from the RCMP provided statistics about a drop in missing persons cases.
Since March 1, parental abductions cases have decreased by 50 per cent, and runaways have gone down by 17 per cent.
“It doesn’t mean that children aren’t missing and we know that children are going missing for a variety of reasons,” said Amanda Pick, CEO of Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC).
Pick said that increased internet access for young people has elevated the risk of encountering predators.
“We know that our youth are spending more time online and so there is a concern around exploitation and being lured in that way," she said.
MCSC partners with regional police forces, including the Calgary Police Service, which has also reported a decrease in files since the outbreak.
“One of the concerns is (vulnerable children) may be going to places that they wouldn’t normally go to,” said Acting Deputy Chief Cliff O’Brien.
He says it's an added challenge to search for children who may be found in public spaces that have now closed as part of containment measures.
“So they may be going to people’s homes or they may be going to a predator and they are not on the street or someplace where we can readily see them," he said.
He also said child abuse reporting has tapered with schools being shut down, as that is where a majority of disclosures occur.
There has been no change to staffing levels when it comes to investigating missing persons cases.
MCSC continues to run an app called Rescue which is uses as a nationwide tool to search for missing children.
