The body of a missing toddler was recovered from what looked to be a well on the property of a daycare just north of Cobourg, Ont., on Thursday evening.
The discovery of the little girl’s remains follows a heavy police presence outside of the “Watch Me Grow Day Care” on County Road 45 (Baltimore Road) in the hamlet of Baltimore, a few kilometres north of Cobourg.
Northumberland OPP would only confirm that a child was reported missing “from an address in Hamilton Township” at 5:17 p.m. Thursday and that “the child was subsequently located deceased at the address.”
Global News freelance videographer Austin Brettell observed crews searching the nearby wooded areas and ditches along the county road until they located what appeared to be a well and found the little girl inside roughly an hour later.
Brettell reports emergency crews managed to get the toddler out and paramedics began CPR. An ambulance took the girl to nearby Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg under an OPP-led emergency run.
Police remained at the scene most of Thursday evening investigating.
Neighbour Pam Fessell says news of the missing toddler prompted her and others to help in the search.
“I turned around and there was a firetruck here within minutes and all kinds of people,” she told Global News Peterborough. “So we all helped with the search and everything.”
Investigators were again at the scene on Friday. No one has been permitted to enter the daycare.
OPP on Friday morning confirmed the child’s death. However, OPP did not provide any details on the incident.
Neighbour Greg Gotthelf says the scene Thursday evening was heart-breaking.
“Watching the mother … that’s no small thing … the pain,” he said.
OPP say their investigation continues involving forensic identification services, under the direction of the OPP’s criminal investigation branch and in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario.
— With files from Robert Lothian/Global News Peterborough
Comments