The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has said the human remains found in the water near Belwood on Saturday are those of three-year-old Kaden Young.
On the morning of Feb. 21, Kaden was caught in a fast-moving current after his mother’s vehicle fell into the Grand River west of Orangeville. Police say the mother was able to hold on to her son briefly, but he was pulled from her arms into the water.
The mother was able to get out of the vehicle.
For the next two months, officers, divers and volunteers searched the river and surrounding areas for the little boy’s body. The search area between the river and Bellwood Lake spanned 13 kilometres and weather conditions, including fog and freezing rain, slowed the search.
On Saturday, the OPP said a body of a “young person” was found in the river by a fisherman near the village of Bellwood around 3 p.m.
A post-mortem was conducted on Monday and on Tuesday the Office of the Chief Coroner confirmed “the found remains are of three-year-old Kaden Young.”
Kaden’s mother posted a message on Facebook Sunday thanking residents and officers for their support.
“It has been a long extremely draining two months of searching and now has finally come to end,” the post read. “The amount of support was absolutely incredible and we really can’t thank everyone enough.”
