
Edmonton police seek help in locating missing 14-year-old
Edmonton Police Service is searching for a teenager who's been missing since June 1.
Samuel Bird, 14, was last seen leaving his home to visit a friend in the Canora neighbourhood in Edmonton's west end.
• Get the latest Edmonton updates right to your inbox
He is described as:
5′8″ tall;
slim build;
brown hair, brown eyes; and
possible injuries including a black-eye and stitches on cheek and nose.
According to police, Bird is known to visit West Edmonton Mall and is familiar with Edmonton's west end and southside.
On Saturday, Bird's family held a virtual conference to raise awareness and to launch a community-led search near the North Saskatchewan River.
'We're doing this because it's been far too long,' said his mother, Alanna Bird, during Saturday's conference.
'Sam always messaged me. He always told me where he was. When that stopped, I knew something was wrong,' she added.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CTV News
5 minutes ago
- CTV News
Calgary police arrest 11-year-old for allegedly robbing bus driver
Calgary police say an 11-year-old boy has been arrested after he allegedly held up a bus driver with a knife. Police say a bus driver parked at Erlton Station was approached by a youth at 11:45 p.m. on July 29. The suspect was allegedly armed with a knife and demanded the driver's phone. Police said the driver was able to 'de-escalate the situation' and the suspect left a short time later with an undisclosed amount of money. The youth joined a group of teens waiting outside the bus, who all left the scene. The driver called police, who located the group at 25 Street S.W. and Macleod Trail South. The youths were arrested without incident. Police say the group is believed to be involved in a liquor store robbery earlier that evening in the 500 block of 11 Avenue S.W. In that incident, police said a group of teens ran into the store and stole multiple bottles of liquor valued at more than $200. Three youths were arrested, including the 11-year-old believed to be responsible for the incident with the bus driver. A 14-year-old girl was charged with shoplifting and three counts of failing to comply with a release order. Charges are pending against a 16-year-old girl in connection with the liquor store theft. All of the youth suspects are not being named due to the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.


CTV News
5 minutes ago
- CTV News
Series of overnight vehicle entries reported in the Collingwood area
Provincial police are investigating a series of overnight vehicle entries in the Town of Collingwood. Officers say they are currently aware of at least three incidents where an unknown man entered vehicles and allegedly stole miscellaneous personal items, including sunglasses and loose change. Police say more incidents remain unreported and are encouraging those people to come forward. The suspect linked to this reported crime is described as a white man wearing a face covering, baseball hat, long sleeve shirt, and distinctive plaid shorts. The OPP is asking residents in the area to check their residential security systems and doorbell-style cameras for any suspicious activity on Wednesday in the early morning hours. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Collingwood and The Blue Mountains OPP at 1-888-310-1122.


CTV News
5 minutes ago
- CTV News
Edmonton airport opens ‘safe room' to help human trafficking victims
A "safe room" for survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, and other trauma or crisis was opened at Edmonton International Airport on July 30, 2025. (Galen McDougall / CTV News Edmonton) Edmonton International Airport (YEG) has dedicated a room to help survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, and other trauma or crisis. The room consists of couches, a bed, a kitchenette, and a full bathroom. Users who are taken there by staff, who have been trained to recognize the signs of trafficking, will also receive fresh clothes, food, a phone and access to the internet, and be connected with community supports. 'It's really looking for those signs, it's accessing security or RCMP, and then having them intervene,' explained Erin Isfeld, the airport's corporate communications manager. The space was officially opened Wednesday, on the United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons, and given the Indigenous name 'Kîsê Watotâtôwin,' which means sharing and giving kindness and compassion. Officials at the opening ceremony said it is the second of its kind in Canada, after one was opened in Calgary. Calgary's safe room has been so impactful, the airport is opening a second, according to Paul Brandt, the face of the Not in My City organization, which is working to eradicate human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Not in My City partnered on the project, as did Action Coalition on Human Trafficking Alberta, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, the Centre to Empower All Survivors of Exploitation, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They say airports have a critical role to play in intercepting human trafficking, as victims are often moved through major airports. 'It takes an average of seven times for a trafficking victim to have the courage to step up and ask for help, so when they do, we have to be ready,' Brandt said. According to Not in My City, human trafficking is a $180-billion industry worldwide. An estimated 40 million people globally are currently being trafficked. 'Between labour trafficking and sex trafficking – all forms of trafficking – it is a degradation of human rights and human dignity, and so the safe room provides an opportunity for a reset, but also that safety from traffickers,' Brandt said. Leduc RCMP Insp. Kiel Samotej echoed the sentiment, saying, 'It provides them that safe place to talk about what's going on and how they ended up in this situation.' On one of the walls of the safe room hangs a portrait of a featureless Indigenous person wrapped in a blanket. When the piece was commissioned, artist Scott Laboucan was only told it was for a safe space. 'When I got here, it was so much more significant,' he told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday. The absence of facial features in his characters is symbolic of the loss of identity residential school survivors experience, he said, drawing a comparison with that experienced by trafficking survivors. According to Not in My City, Indigenous people make up more than 50 per cent of trafficking victims in Canada. Should an Indigenous person find themselves in the room, Laboucan hopes they are comforted by his artwork, from the familiar geometrics to the blanket. 'There's blanket ceremonies. Blankets are gifted for graduates. So that importance (and) also that comfort, that warmth of being wrapped in a blanket. They'll get emotional, like a release, or it'll just be a silent strength, like I'm so happy there's something in here that relates to me.' With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nicole Weisberg