Discovery of boy’s body stuns searchers

Jon Bailey was away from his home in Dundas, Ont., when he saw a Facebook post Saturday about Finnigan Danne’s disappearance.

When he returned, Bailey said police officers and paramedics were outside Danne’s home, while some area residents were on the street.

Two women, one of whom helped care f or Danne, told him the boy had gone searching for his cat after it escaped earlier Saturday morning, Bailey said.

Danne, 12, who suffered from a neuromuscular disorder and had limited mobility, was last seen on Saturday morning at his home in the community, on the west side of Hamilton.

“I searched the area twice,” said Bailey, who lives three doors away from Danne and spent most of the weekend looking for the boy. “It’s a horrible feeling ... I just wish I’d searched a bit harder.”

Danne was thought to have left his home without his wheelchair, Bailey said.

Police had set up a post outside Danne’s house and advised volunteers to start looking for the boy under bushes and in crevices in the area.

“I just grabbed my running shoes and headed out,” said Bailey, who searched the surrounding area for seven hours on Saturday, and again on Sunday.

Eventually, Bailey said, search volunteers heard that Danne’s body had reportedly been found in a culvert under an area of road.

Bailey said he was surprised at the news since he had partially crept through the culvert himself earlier in the search.

“I had walked in and I had gotten about 10 feet in and I slipped, and my shoes had gotten soaked, my flashlight shorted out,” said Bailey.

“Instead of keeping going, I just turned around and walked out … I just kind of dismissed that spot, thinking that maybe somebody else had gone there, maybe police were going to go there. I wish I hadn’t.”

Moira Leggate, who also helped search for Danne, was just as shocked at where the boy was found.

“I’m stunned, because it was a really extensive search. The police were here on horseback yesterday, they went down there, I saw them do it,” she said. “The police were here with the dogs from yesterday from about two o’clock. I was with them. We didn’t leave anything unturned.”

Police have said l i ttle about the boy’s disappearance or the discovery of his body Sunday, which followed an Amber alert.

An autopsy was to be conducted on Monday. A candlelight vigil is planned Tuesday evening.

I JUST WISH I’D SEARCHED A BIT HARDER.