The two-year-old Manitoba boy whose disappearance drew national headlines and mobilised a frantic search by hundreds of volunteers died from drowning, according to a statement by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
RCMP announced Monday that an autopsy has confirmed what was expected after the toddler’s body was found in a creek near his family’s farm in Austin, Manitoba, on Saturday.
Autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirms that Chase MARTENS’ death was the result of drowning. #rcmpmb
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) March 28, 2016
The toddler disappeared last Tuesday at around 6 p.m. local time, while playing outside their home about 120 kilometres west of Winnipeg.
Hundreds of volunteers and authorities on foot, horseback, all-terrain vehicles and helicopter searched the countryside around the family’s farm for days hoping to locate the boy.
His body was located in Pine Creek, half a kilometre south of his home, around 1 p.m. CT Saturday.
With files from CBC News
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