Mother of Kaden Young says search for her son has 'come to an end'

The mother of three-year-old Kaden Young says the search for her son is over, two months after he was swept into the Grand River near Orangeville, Ont.

Police have not confirmed child’s body found by fisherman downstream was that of missing 3-year-old

CBC News ·
The search for Kaden Young of Amaranth, Ont., began after he was pulled from his mothers arms and swept into the Grand River near Orangeville, Ont., on Feb. 21. (Submitted by the Young family)

The mother of three-year-old Kaden Young says the search for her son is over, two months after he was swept into the Grand River near Orangeville, Ont.

On Saturday, the Ontario Provincial Police reported that a fisherman had found a child's body downstream from the place where Kaden disappeared in the river during a flood in late February.  

The OPP told CBC Toronto on Sunday they will not be officially confirming the child's identity until an autopsy has taken place.

A Mickey Mouse doll left on a bridge overlooking the Grand River in honour of Kaden. (supplied)

But Kaden's mother, Michelle Hanson, wrote a post on Facebook saying that the "extremely draining" months of searching had "finally come to an end."  

"The amount of support was absolutely incredible and we really can't thank everyone enough," she wrote.

Swept out of mother's arms

Kaden was being driven by his mother in his family's van on Feb. 21 when it entered rising flood waters on a low-lying part of the road near the Grand River.

The river had overflowed its banks and flowed over the road near their home just outside of Grand Valley.

As Hanson attempted to get herself and Kaden out of the van, the boy was swept out of her arms by the strong current. 

In the weeks that followed, hundreds volunteered to help with grid searches to find the boy. A Facebook page called "Bring Kaden Young home to his family," set up to help volunteers coordinate with one another, now has close to 20,000 members. 

A volunteer team heading out to search for Kaden in March included people from Kitchener, Orangeville, Huntsville, Mississauga and Shelburne. (Bring Kaden Young Home To His Family/Facebook)

In her post, Hanson thanked the volunteers for their help. 

She said funeral arrangements are now being finalized, with details set to be released in the coming week.

The child's body has been taken to the Toronto Coroner's Office, and autopsy results are expected on Monday or Tuesday of this week.