Truro police say Dylan Ehler disappeared Wednesday afternoon.HO/The Canadian Press
Police in Truro, N.S., say the search for a missing three-year-old boy is now considered a recovery effort.
In a social media post Thursday evening, Truro police say the decision was made in consultation with Dylan Ehler’s family.
The search for Dylan began Wednesday afternoon and involved police and fire services, search and rescue crews and provincial emergency management staff.
Despite the extensive efforts, police say they haven’t found any new clues or information.
The boy disappeared while playing outside his grandmother’s house in the central Nova Scotia town on Wednesday.
Truro Police Chief Dave MacNeil says the grandmother had become distracted by the family dog.
“His grandmother became briefly distracted and turned around for a moment, and when she turned back, Dylan was no longer in the yard,” MacNeil said. He said the search soon led to Lepper Brook located near the grandparents’ property.
“The water is very high there this time of year and its moving fairly quickly. Firefighters did go into the river probably chest height.”
MacNeil said a rubber boot the boy had been wearing was found around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, and the second boot was found just before 9 p.m. He said the second boot was further down the brook an estimated 150 metres, near where the brook enters the Salmon River.
At the time, MacNeil refused to speculate whether the boy could have survived the cooler damp weather and water temperatures.
“We have to keep optimistic, but the waters are very cold,” he said. “We are hoping for the best.”
That hope had dissipated by 6 p.m., when police wrote that they were “moving from a search mode to a recovery mode.”
“This does not mean the team has given up on finding Dylan,” Truro police said on Facebook.
Earlier Thursday, Ehler’s mother was the first to confirm that searchers had found her son’s boots.
“Dogs are out, helicopter is up, diving the river. Please help find my baby and bring him home,” Michelle Ash wrote on Facebook.
Later she thanked searchers for their efforts.
“It does give some comfort to know that all of these people who don’t know me or my family are out there looking with every tool they have.”
MacNeil said Department of Natural Resources air support was back on the scene and a provincial dive team had also been called in to assist.
Deb Pryor, who lives in the area, was one of dozens of people who helped look for the boy during the initial stages of the search.
Pryor said she spent about four hours looking in sunny conditions near the river on Wednesday.
“We scoured everything, lots of holes and swamps and tracks. It’s just not an easy place to search,” she said. “The water was running pretty hard.”
Truro Coun. Cathy Hinton represents the ward where the boy went missing.
She said the situation is a lot to process following other recent tragedies, including the shooting rampage that claimed 22 lives in nearby communities more than two weeks ago, and the Canadian Forces helicopter crash off Greece that killed six people, including Truro native Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke.
“We’ve had our share of problems the last while, and it is difficult,” Hinton said.
“Everyone is very concerned, and I think we are a little shell-shocked from all the events that have happened.”
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