Private contractors donated their equipment and time on Tuesday to the ongoing search efforts for the body of three-year-old Kaden Young, who was swept into the Grand River last week.
On Tuesday afternoon, a long reach excavator carefully broke through the ice near Belwood Lake, which is a reservoir fed by the Grand River about 13 kilometres downstream from where the boy disappeared.
Ontario Provincial Police believe it’s possible the boy’s body is trapped under the ice.
“We are on day seven now,” Const. Paul Nancekivell told CTV News Toronto. “You know, we're all frustrated. We want to find this child, we want to bring him back. We want to bring closure to the family and stop this tragic event from continuing on and on to haunt the family.”
The boy vanished into the flooded Grand River on Feb. 21 when the vehicle carrying him and his mother was swallowed by the rushing river. Poor weather conditions in the area at the time, including heavy rain and fog, had made driving conditions poor, police previously said.
His mother managed to escape the van and grabbed hold of the boy. She tried to make her way to the shore but lost her grip before she reached it.
The toddler was swept downstream and has not yet been located.
On Tuesday, the family received a permit from the Conservation Authority to dig through the ice. As part of the search, firefighters used a boat to deploy a submersible robot equipped with an underwater camera.
“The camera on it works about the same as the human eye would,” Brendan Cook, who owns the camera, said. “It does work in low light options too but if the water is very, very murky, we did bring sonar as well. So we'll be able to get a good idea of what's under the water.”
Hundreds of volunteers and community members joined in the search efforts over the weekend, combing the edge of the river. An OPP helicopter and officers also assisted in the search on Sunday.
Previously, police said the floating ice chunks strewn across the river have hindered the search.
A local company provided the heavy equipment free-of-charge on Tuesday.
“The family came to us through Arthurs Fuel, who supplies the fuel,” owner Rick Wilson said. “It's a community getting together to help and find the little guy.”
The devastating story has shaken the small nearby community, many of whom have been providing food and drinks to the volunteer searchers.
“None of us are strangers here, we're all family,” said Kitchener-resident Melissa Tolch, who travelled to the area with her son to offer their support. The pair made cupcakes with a blue ribbon of icing in honour of Kaden and brought them for the volunteers.
“We all just need to get together and find this little boy," she said. "Kaden needs to go home to his family."
With files from CTV News Toronto's John Musselman.
