Two months after Kaden Young was swept away in the flood waters of the Grand River, his mother took to Facebook to thank volunteers.
“We are wanting to thank everyone that has helped in the efforts to bring our Son Kaden home,” Michelle Hanson wrote in a post on Facebook. “It has been a long extremely draining two months of searching and now has finally come to an end.”
On Saturday a fisherman spotted the body of a young boy in the Grand River by the Belwood Bridge on County Road 26.
Police have not confirmed the identity of the body pulled from the water. They said they are awaiting autopsy results.
The body was recovered around 10 kilometres downstream from where Young went in.
On Feb. 21 Hanson drove the family van down a closed road near their home community of Waldemar. The Grand River, which was flooding as a result of heavy rains, grabbed the van and pulled it in. She told police that she pulled her son out of the van, then lost her grip on him when she was pushed over by water.
Young’s disappearance prompted a major police and volunteer search. Hundreds of people from coast to coast joined in the efforts to bring Kaden home. Severe weather put a pause on search efforts but people did not give up hope.
The man leading the charge of the search for Kaden says he's grateful for all the volunteers from coast to coast who came out to help find the little boy.
“We're not volunteers anymore we are a family,” said Richard Croft the volunteer search coordinator. “Seeing what the family is going to go through is tough but for me. Speaking for myself, it's still a great deal of weight off the shoulders.”
Croft said a candle light vigil is expected to be held in Belwood in the coming days. According to the mother’s Facebook post, funeral arrangements are being worked out.
With files from CTV Kitchener’s Heather Senoran
