Arika KAKAKAWAY located

Nine-year-old Arika KAKAKAWAY was located safe this afternoon.

She was found at a residence in southwest Calgary after other people in the house notified us that she was there. Her motivation for not returning home and her connection to the people in the house is still unclear.

However, detectives who specialize in cases involving children are speaking to her to ensure she receives the supports she needs.

The search for Arika has involved a significant number of officers since she was reported missing last night. Officers from our General Investigations Unit, Child Abuse Unit, Missing Persons Team, Real Time Operations Centre, Mountain Bike Unit, Public Safety Unit, Diversity Resource Team, HAWCS helicopter and Patrol teams were all searching for her, around the clock. City of Calgary Parks and Community Standards staff also assisted.

Volunteers from the Bear Clan Patrol, an Indigenous community group who supports community safety, also joined our officers in the search this morning. We are aware of many others in the community who have been checking their neighbourhoods throughout the night and today.

“Days like this are hard on everyone involved in the search and we are so thankful that she is now safe,” said Inspector Cory Dayley, with the Calgary Police Service Real Time Operations Centre. “No nine-year-old child should be wandering around alone in the middle of the night, and we are glad that she has been found.”

“Seeing the community step up to help through this has been so encouraging and we are glad groups like the Bear Clan Patrol offered to join us,” added Insp. Dayley. “Calgary is still a very caring city and I am proud of how quickly people stepped up to help bring this girl home.”

Search teams had spent most of their day looking for clues to her whereabouts in Braeside and the surrounding communities. Investigative teams spent the day canvassing the Braeside neighbourhood for information and CCTV, and speaking to friends and family members to learn as much as they could about Arika.

The search was expanded late in the morning to include Fish Creek Park, North Glenmore Park and the area around Chinook Centre as more information was learned by investigators.

We would like to thank all Calgarians who shared Arika’s information and helped us look for her, as well as the media for helping to spread the news. We would not be able to do our jobs as effectively without the support of our community.

We also want to encourage all Calgarians to download the Missing Children Society of Canada’s MCSC rescu app. AMBER Alerts are only intended for children who have been abducted, but this app allows us to notify the community of any high-risk missing children cases in our city. It is a valuable resource for us and for our community.

To protect the privacy of Arika and her family, no further information on this case will be released.

Case #21207669/4416