A ceremony was held Saturday in Lethbridge to raise awareness about a petition pushing for national Amber Alert reforms.
The petition was launched by friends of the family of Darius Macdougall, who disappeared while out camping with his family on Sept. 21 in the Crowsnest Pass area.
“I started this petition after a young boy named Darius went missing from our community near the Alberta/B.C. border next to a highway,” said organizer Ronnie DeGagne.
“No Amber Alert was ever issued and I realized there was a dangerous gap in our system,” he said. “Police are unable to issue an alert without confirmed proof of an abduction, even when a child is at risk.
“I began this petition so no parents of a child have to go through that silence again.”
The intensive search for Macdougall was called off after 11 days.
“There are too many cases of missing people, children, Indigenous people, vanishing without a trace despite the use of dogs, cadaver dogs, drones and helicopters,” DeGagne said. “And they’re vanishing near highways, near borders and national parks.
“We fear these are areas being exploited by smugglers and traffickers and we’re advocating for national Amber Alert reform.”
DeGagne said he hopes to take the petition, which had close to 14,000 signatures on Sunday afternoon, to Ottawa.
“We’re optimistic but there’s a long battle ahead and we’re going to keep fighting,” DeGagne said.
Brittany Blais said Saturday’s event was about raising awareness for Darius’s Law and to show support for the missing boy and his family.
“Tonight is about hope, love, awareness and we’ve come together tonight as a community to hold a light for Darius, to show that we won’t give up on him or his family,” Blais said.
To sign the petition, go here.
