What should be a joyous time for a Calgary family, after hearing a missing loved one was seen alive, is turning out to be a continued tragedy.
Kody Gallant,19, has been reported missing since early December. On Friday, police issued a news release saying that Gallant had been located safely.
But the family is still desperate to see him in person.
Kody’s father, Stacey Gallant, said police showed the family a photo of Kody that was taken around ten days ago by officers near Westbrook Mall in southwest Calgary.
“I need to see him and hold him and tell him I love him,” Gallant said, fighting back tears on Saturday.
READ MORE: Vigil held for missing Calgary teen Kody Gallant
“I was absolutely ecstatic just knowing he was alive. On the other hand, I was terrified because I didn’t know what the next step was going to be,” Lyn Gallant, Kody’s grandmother, said. “It’s been such an emotional roller coaster. We’ve been through so much torture with it. But the fact of seeing the picture and identifying that it was him was like a thousand pounds off your shoulders.”
READ MORE: Calgary father loses hope more than a month after son Kody Gallant’s disappearance
Calgary police had issued a public plea for help in December, saying they were concerned for his welfare.
The family is expressing their gratitude to the Calgary Police Service but now they feel they are on their own in their efforts to track Kody down.
One family member spotted Kody near the old children’s hospital on Saturday but she said he didn’t want any help and didn’t recognize his own name.
“He said his name wasn’t Kody. It’s like he didn’t even recognize himself. I’m very worried about him still,” Stacey Gallant said.
Stacey believes Kody is a threat to himself. He says his son had been battling drug addictions for years and he requires daily medication for a congenital disease.
“What he needs more than anything is unconditional love. And we have nothing but unconditional love for him and always have,” Lyn Gallant said.
Lyn made an emotional plea to Kody on camera in an interview with Global News, for him to reach out to his family.
“I sympathize with anybody who is going through this. The biggest thing you need to do is try to talk to them and get through to them….make sure that they know that they are unconditionally loved,” Lyn Gallant said. “I sympathize with all the parents, all the grandparents and I sympathize with all the kids that are struggling. There needs to be a lot more help. It needs to be more intense and it needs to be longer. That’s the biggest downfall in the system is that you can’t treat cancer in two weeks; you cannot treat drug addiction in two weeks.”
Stacey Gallant intends to keep searching for Kody to try to get him professional help. He says knowing Kody is alive yet wandering in a vulnerable state is creating its own anguish.
“I’m not going to rest until I actually see him with my own eyes. I have to see him and touch him and hear his voice because to me it’s still not real,” Stacey Gallant said.
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