The mother of a three-year-old boy who was swept into the Grand River earlier this year confirms that the search for the child has now "come to an end."
Ontario Provincial Police said Saturday that the body of a “young person” was found in the river near the village of Belwood at around 3 p.m. yesterday.
Police added that they would not confirm the identity of the deceased until a post-mortem examination had been conducted.
In a Facebook post published Sunday, Kaden Young’s mother, Michelle Hanson, said the months-long search for her son has now ended.
“It has been a long extremely draining two months of searching and now has finally come to an end,” Hanson’s Facebook post read Sunday.
“The amount of support was absolutely incredible and we really can’t thank everyone enough."
The child was with his mother in the early morning hours of Feb. 21 when the minivan she was driving went into the river in an area west of Orangeville.
According to investigators, the boy slipped from his mother’s arms as they escaped from the vehicle and he was swept away by a fast-moving current.
Heavy rain and fog made for poor driving conditions in the area at the time, police previously said.
Dozens of volunteers, police, and firefighters spent countless hours searching for the young boy after the tragic incident.
In a news release issued Sunday, police said the body found in the river on Saturday was first located by a fisherman immediately north of the Belwood Bridge on Wellington County Road 26.
Hanson said funeral arrangements are being finalized and more details will be released next week.
