The search of the Nith River for a missing five-year-old has ended unsuccessfully.
Police called off the search for Robbie Reiner on Monday afternoon, after nearly five days at the river, not far from Reiner’s home.
“We have exhausted all options,” Waterloo Regional Police Staff Sgt. Shaena Morris tells CTV News.
“We have searched all accessible areas up and down the river that the officers are able to get to.”
Reiner disappeared Boxing Day, around 5 p.m.
Footsteps were seen leading from his home to the river, and some of his clothes were found along the riverbank.
After one day, police reclassified their search of the river from a rescue to a recovery operation.
Sonar devices and OPP divers have been used to help in the search, while weather delayed plans to bring in an OPP helicopter from Sudbury – but the chopper did join in the effort Monday, as searchers moved downriver from where the clothing was seen, crossing Highway 7/8.
Cold weather and ice storm damage in the river made it difficult to navigate and search the water, police say.
“Fallen trees, ice chunks and large masses of ice … have made some of the conditions in there very difficult to reach,” says Morris.
The effort to find Reiner attracted support from the entire community of New Hamburg and beyond, with blue ribbons tied around the area as a show of solidarity with Reiner's family.
While the search has ended, police say they continue to investigate Reiner’s disappearance through other methods.
