An Australian family has taken their search for their missing son to Vancouver's Stanley Park.

Owen Rooney vanished from the southern Interior town of Grand Forks, B.C., in August and his family — Steve and Sharon Rooney and their two daughters — flew to Canada days later to take up the search.

They spent most of the last few months searching in the Grand Forks area, about 375 kilometres east of Vancouver.

After receiving a tip, they walked the trails of Stanley Park, hoping Owen, 24, might be living there. The densely wooded park is occupied by dozens of the city's homeless.

"We did get a phone call last week," said Sharon Rooney. "A woman in Vancouver, identifying a person with Owen's description and Australian accent … she saw the clip on the news. It's not concrete, it's just a glimmer. Up till now, there has been nothing."

The Rooneys have put their lives and businesses in Australia on hold and burned through their life savings in the search for their son.

"I'm sure I think we'll find him," Said Sharon Rooney. "My heart tells me that. That's what my heart says now, so we live with that every day."

Rooney was last seen outside the Grand Forks hospital where he had been treated for head injuries following an assault.

He is described as five foot nine inches tall, with short brown hair and a tattoo saying "Australian Made" on his right calf.

The Rooneys take their search to Victoria on Wednesday.

With files from the CBC's Curt Petrovich