The Nova Scotia RCMP has temporarily suspended the search for a youth who went missing during the devastating Nova Scotia floods due to dangerous conditions.
In an update Monday morning, police said the search has been suspended to allow the remaining water in a search area to drain.
RCMP Supt. Sean Auld said in a release that there are deep pockets of water in the search zone and searching those pockets has become too dangerous for the searchers. Some search activity will be resumed once those areas are drained.
The youth was one of four people who went missing after two separate vehicles were submerged in the early hours of July 22.
Police believe the vehicles were knocked off the road into a hayfield in Brooklyn, N.S., by rapidly rising water during a storm that dumped up to 250 millimetres of rain on parts of the province.
Last week, searchers recovered the bodies of two six-year-old children — identified in funeral home notices as Natalie Hazel Harnish and Colton Sisco — and 52-year-old Nicholas Holland, who was travelling with the missing youth.
The search of the primary search area in Brooklyn were completed on July 27, and search efforts over the weekend were focused on a secondary area adjacent to the primary location.
According to police, 85 per cent of the secondary area has been drained and searched.
So far, searchers have covered more than 495 acres of ground, 104 square kilometres of watershed and tidal waters, and 417 square kilometres of shoreline by air.
Girl’s funeral held
In Brooklyn Monday, hundreds of people gathered at the local firehall to grieve Harnish. Mourners filled the hall and spilled into a parking lot outside, with many in attendance wearing purple, the child’s favourite colour.
Officiant Helen Lindsay described Harnish as a butterfly who lit up every room. She said the community’s presence will help the Harnish family heal, “as they remember the little girl who has become a piece of your soul.”
Premier Tim Houston and local MP Kody Blois attended, along with RCMP, search and rescue personnel and members of the volunteer fire department.
Ian Riley, Harnish’s “grampy,” gave a eulogy, saying her tragic loss can’t be rationalized.
His granddaughter was an avid cheerleader and would practise endless cartwheels in a row, pausing only to twist into a back bend, he said. She would perform entire impromptu cheerleading competitions, playing the role of moderator, coach and competitor.
When Harnish was born, the family dog, Molly, immediately became her guardian and slept by her side every night, Riley said.
“I find solace in knowing Molly was with Natalie when she passed, and she continues to stand on guard.”
A funeral for Sisco is to be held on Tuesday.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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