
March 2, 2018 · 0 Comments
By Jasen Obermeyer
The search for missing three-year-old Kaden Young continues, with residents coming together to conduct their own searches, while the OPP will be scaling back their search efforts.
A little over a week since Kaden went missing, the incident has taken Grand Valley, and Dufferin County in general, by storm.
The incident happened early Wednesday around 1:00 a.m., when the minivan caring Kaden and his mother, Michelle Hanson, was swept into the Grand River south of Waldemar near Grand Valley. The car was on the 10th Line of Amaranth heading towards Waldemar, and drove past a road closure sign in the fog.
Though Ms. Hanson was able to get herself and Kaden out of the vehicle, the force of the river swept the child from her arms.
Since then, the OPP have been searching the river for several kilometers, and after the area was deemed safe enough, volunteers from around the community have been searching as well, finding a booster seat, a yellow T-shirt and a sneaker. The minivan was also found and pulled from the river.
Dufferin OPP Constable Paul Nancekivell said though they are scaling back their search efforts, they have their response team, a helicopter and a drone. “We have our canine and dive team on standby should we find anything.”
He told the Citizen that the Wellington North Fire Department will be using under water drones, and advised that volunteers don’t use drones in the area. “We have our own (drone) there, it’s difficult, and we have our chopper and our own drone, we don’t want to be worried about other ones.”
A Facebook group has been created dubbed “Bring Kaden Home” and has over 10’000 members, candlelight vigils have been held, and organizations in the county have offered their support and donation drives for the family.
One citizen helping in the search is Ross Hutchings, who conducted his first search on Saturday morning (Feb. 24), with nearly 50 other volunteers joining him.
Mr. Hutchings spoke to the Citizen, and described hearing about the tragic incident as a “killer” for the family, and said he “can’t imagine” what it must be like, being a father himself.
He had the volunteers split up into groups, advising caution when walking along the river.
Mr. Hutchings said this has hit the community hard because, from what he recalled, is something that hadn’t happened here before, but added that he is amazed at how quickly the community has come together. “Something like this is so devastating, because you’re dealing with all the bad things.”
He explained how this search snowballed to starting it with a friend, then reaching out through Facebook. “Sitting (in my house) thinking about this isn’t going to help anybody. So I figured I’d go out and search the river myself.”