Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening.
Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road. The toddler was barefoot at the time.
“In a moment, he was just gone,” Trimble said, adding that police are conducting the search on the ground and in the sky with the use of drones.
Access to the park has been blocked off to the public as the search continues. Police said that despite the best intentions of concerned community members, they “don’t need any additional help” locating the child. Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services is also taking part in the search as is the Toronto Police Service’s mounted unit.
“The way it’s done is in such a manner that we are able to say where we have searched and then we move on to the next location,” Trimble explained.
Trimble couldn’t say if Zaid is a resident of Mississauga or not, but said his parents remain at the park.
“If it was my child, I would be very concerned. So I can only imagine what the family is going through,” she said, noting that there are overgrown areas within the park as well as water features.
Zaid’s mother, Eslam Adam, spoke to CTV News Toronto on Friday and said it was the family’s first time at the park.
“We looked near the bench. We looked near the river and outside, on the road, but he is nowhere,” she said, adding that Zaid was playing with another family’s children before he went missing. She said her family came to Canada a month-and-a-half ago.
Police say Zaid Abdullah has been missing since 6:20 p.m. on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Supplied)
Zaid is described as three-feet tall, thin, with a short dark afro and was wearing a yellow top with red writing and black pants. Zaid is wearing the same clothes he was wearing in the image released by police on Thursday, Trimble added.
If seen, call 911 immediately, police said.
This is a developing story. More to come.