
April 23, 2018 · 0 Comments
By Brian Lockhart
The search for a missing three year-old that was swept into the fast flowing Grand River back in February has ended.
Kaden Young was lost after the van driven by his mother was pulled into the river and he was pulled from her arms into the fast flowing current.
A man fishing the Grand River found the body of a young child in the river around 14 km south of where Kaden was last seen. It was two months to the day after the accident.
Police and a forensic team arrived on the scene to remove the body from the water.
OPP would not confirm the identity of the body pending absolute identification and an autopsy was scheduled for Monday.
A press release from the OPP stated ‘Officers of the Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police along with the Centre Region Emergency Response Team immediately responded to the scene and located the remains. Under the direction of the Regional Coroner, a post mortem examination will be conducted at the Office of the Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto. Once the identity of the deceased is confirmed, the name will be released.’
However, Kaden’s mother Michelle Hanson, posted to a Facebook group to thank the community for their support.
According to a Toronto Star report, the body was found under the County Rd. 26 bridge that crosses the Grand River in Belwood. It was found in a cluster of trees and shrubs.
“We are wanting to thank everyone that has helped in the effort to bring our son Kaden home. It has been a long extremely draining two months of searching and now has finally come to an end,” said the posting on the Facebook page. It went on to say funeral arrangements are pending.
In the weeks after Kaden was lost there has been a huge effort to locate him with daily searches coordinated at a location in Waldemar.
Hundreds of private citizens took part in the search, some coming quite a distance to help.
The search was difficult. Ice in the river was a concern and OPP dive teams were hampered in their efforts by large chunks of ice in the river. The OPP has maintained a presence on the river since the accident occurred.
Volunteers combed the banks of the river using chainsaws, hockey sticks, and what ever else they needed to break through the ice and debris along the shore.
Organizers said they would not give up until Kaden was found.
When it was announced that a child’s body had been located and presumed to be that of Kaden, people gathered on the bridge in Belwood to reflect on the efforts of the past two months.