The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Search turns to recovery
Boots of three-year-old discovered near ‘fast-moving’ brook
Any remaining glimmer of hope for finding a missing Truro boy alive has faded.
“Unfortunately, at this point the extensive efforts put forth by searchers have not yielded any new clues or information,” the Truro Police Service said in a news release Thursday evening.
“In consultation with the family, we are now moving from a search mode to a recovery mode.”
During an earlier news conference outside the Truro Police station, Chief Dave Macneil had held out a degree of optimism that Dylan Ehler, might still be found alive.
Dylan, 3, disappeared from the area of Queen and Elizabeth streets shortly after
1 p.m. Wednesday.
His rubber boots were discovered by searchers later that evening in the “very, very fast-moving” Lepper Brook.
“Dylan was at his grandmother’s residence on Queen Street playing outside, 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, during the press conference.
“As far as we know, her dog was involved,” he said. “She might have turned around to tie her dog or do something with the dog. She turned around and he had left the area. Just that quick.”
One of Dylan’s boots was discovered in the water of Lepper Brook at about 7:20 p.m., about 152 metres from the grandmother’s house, Macneil said. The second boot was discovered just before 9 p.m. near where the mouth of the brook intersects with the swollen, rushing Salmon River.
When asked about the odds of the boy still being alive,
Macneil said the only way the search could continue was by remaining optimistic.
“That wouldn’t be for me to comment on. Obviously, my hope and thoughts are positive at this point in time. It’s not very comforting for the family to think the worst,” he said.
“Telling them that we found his rubber boots wasn’t easy. But they’re a strong family and they’re coming to grips with any outcome that is possible. We’re keeping positive. We’re going to work as hard as we can.”
After the news conference, Macneil said he was heading back to the command post beside Salmon River in the area where Dylan disappeared to determine how they were going to proceed with phase three of the operation. But at that point, he said the mission remained as a search and rescue, as opposed to a recovery effort.
That outlook changed shortly afterward.
“Dylan’s family has had an opportunity to attend our command post and have been shown the area covered by searches and the extensive equipment and efforts used to find Dylan,” the release said.
“This does not mean the team has given up on finding Dylan," referring to the recovery effort.
Macneil said patrol officers arrived at the site of the boy’s disappearance within four minutes of receiving the first call. Witnesses were interviewed, surveillance cameras were checked and a door-todoor
search of the area was carried out very quickly.
Truro firefighters and the Colchester Search and Rescue team were summoned right away and a Natural Resources helicopter was also put into service in short order.
The search continued throughout the night and members of Halifax Regional Ground Search and Rescue relieved the Colchester group at about 3 a.m.
Divers with the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team also spent much of Thursday searching various points in
the water, including “intensive” activity in the areas where the boy’s boots were found.
Other components of the search also consisted of ground searchers, a police K-9 unit, aerial drones, thermal imaging cameras and underwater cameras.
Truro Mayor Bill Mills, who attended the news conference, stated afterward that, he too, was holding out hope of a positive outcome.
“I’ve heard stories about youngsters who were in similar situations who have somehow
survived,” Mills said.
“That’s the thing I’m holding onto right now for the family, for the little fella, that hopes and prayers are that somehow, someway maybe he’s ... up on a bank and maybe he’s in an area of some trees and just can’t find him yet. I’m hoping that will be the case so that’s the only thing I’ve got to hold on to right now.”
That hope, however, was short-lived.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Truro Police Service at 902-895-5351