Calgarians gathered Thursday in a north end park to hug, cry and honour the memory of an 11-year-old boy.

The makeshift memorial for Parker has grown one flower and one stuffed toy at a time on a footbridge in Laycock Park.

Close by is a culvert and a network of underground pipes under Deerfoot Trail.

On Wednesday, searchers found the boy’s body in one of those pipes.

Parker, who had autism and was non-verbal, wandered away from a daycare home two weeks ago.

His disappearance sparked a massive search that captured the attention of the city, with hundreds of police and volunteers checking homes, boats, sheds, garages and waterways to find the child.

— More to come…