Calgary police Chief Katie McLellan says an 11-year-old boy who disappeared two weeks ago in a northside neighbourhood has been found dead.

McLellan says the boy named Parker was discovered in a water pipe underneath Deerfoot Trail, the city’s major north-south expressway.

McLellan says it appears Parker, who had autism and was non-verbal, wandered into a deep culvert then into a series of pipes.

She says police searched the area after receiving a tip that the boy’s shoe had been found nearby.

The discovery ends a massive search that galvanized the city, with hundreds of officers and volunteers scouring city blocks, homes, sheds, garages, boats and under patio decks.

Parker disappeared after he walked away from his daycare home on July 16.