NDG community shows support for family of missing teen as police set up command post

Community members came together on Monday night in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood to show support for the family of missing teen Feng Tian.

The 17-year-old from China went missing almost a month ago, and the search is becoming more desperate by the day.

"I just want him to come home," said his mother, Sujing Nie, in Cantonese.

On Tuesday, Montreal police announced they would deploy a command post Wednesday in the park where he was last seen on Oct. 17.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to meet with police at the command post at Square Sainte-Élisabeth park, at the corner of Saint-Jacques and Delinelle streets between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Loved ones who gathered Monday held candles, said prayers and showed support in an NDG parking lot near where Tian was last seen.

"Pain is a universal language especially when it comes to mothers, I didn't need to hear her words. I felt her pain," said organizer Tricia Bartley choking back tears.

#MISSING
Tian Feng, 17 years old, was last seen on October 17th in the Côte-des-Neiges--Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. His relatives and the investigators fear for his safety. Thank you for retweeting in order to find him quickly. #SPVM ^RM pic.twitter.com/zxWacLWK7B

— Police Montréal (@SPVM) October 19, 2022

The family recently moved to Canada from China, and their hopes of starting fresh were put on hold the night of Oct. 17 when Tian left home and never returned.

His mother said that he liked living in Canada, knew his way around the neighbourhood, and went to language classes at the YMCA.

She is now worried he's lost and struggling to communicate in a new city.

"I can't eat. I can't stop crying," she said through a translator. "My younger son keeps handing me tissues."

"All of us as parents we really care about that," said voluneer Jing Bai. "Even our children know about this and always ask, where is he, how can find him?"

Volunteers continue to distribute flyers and comb the area for any sign of the 17-year-old.

NDG-CDN borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa was at the vigil Monday night to show support.

"I'm here to be there with the community and also to be there with the community and to bring more light so we could have more people looking to see if we find him," she said.

NDG councillor Peter McQueen said he's seen police out searching the area and has joined in the efforts.

"I personally searched the inside of the train tracks, the tracks are between where he was, his home," he said. "Nobody knows what the answer to this enigma is."

As the nights grow colder, however, the search is becoming even more urgent. 

Members of the public can contact police with information about Tian's disappearance by calling 911 or sending an anonymous tip to police at 514-393-1133.