“This appears to be exactly what we all thought it was, a tragedy,”
- Details
- Published on Sunday, March 27, 2016
RCMP Sgt Bert Paquet photo courtesy of Alan Gillies, GEM Media. Martens picture provided by RCMP media release.
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Press/Neepawa Banner
The search for a missing Manitoba child ended in tragedy on Saturday, Mar. 26, as the body of two year old Chase Martens was found in a creek close to his family’s home. The discovery of the deceased toddler, who had been missing since Tuesday, Mar. 22, followed a massive search effort from RCMP, Winnipeg Police, local emergency services personnel and volunteers, in the rural area near the community of Austin.
In the days following Chase’s disappearance, a search through nearby fields and creeks grew from a 1.5 kilometre radius around the Martens’ home to five kilometres. It also quickly grew from a handful of search and rescue volunteers to hundreds of people doing everything they could to assist with the effort.
In the early afternoon on Saturday, Chase was found in a creek only half a kilometre south of the families house. The area had been examined previously by search and rescue volunteers, but recent changes to the water levels allowed for the discovery.
Shortly after Martens was found, RCMP Sgt. Bert Paquet provided an update to reporters converged on the site of the search. Paquet said that there were no obvious signs of foul play in the death of the youngster and it appears Chase had just walked away from his home.
“This appears to be exactly what we all thought it was, a tragedy,” Paquet said.
Paquet added that the search for Chase had involved hundreds of people volunteering their time to assist in any way they could.
“I would estimate that about 30,000 volunteer hours were donated this week, the majority of them by people who are total strangers to the Martens family,” Paquet said. “The true genuine care and concern of Manitobans is something that should be recognized and commended.”
On Saturday, Paquet noted that while police weren’t looking at foul play, a team of investigators were working to determine how the child had died and that an autopsy would be conducted on Sunday.
On Friday, Chase’s parents made a tearful plea to the public for any information that might lead to new information on the whereabouts of their son, noting it would be unusual for Chase to wander off the property without the family dog.
During the media update on Saturday, Paquet noted that investigators had updated the Martens's family regarding Chase’s discovery.
“They had mixed feelings, obviously — an answer, yes, but probably the answer they did not want to get,” said Paquet "We always hope, but we knew the challenges after the first few nights and we knew, obviously, the possible outcome of this operation. Again, an answer provided to the family thanks to the effort of thousands of people, but definitely not an answer anybody wanted to see.”
On Sunday, the Martens family released a statement through the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. In it, they expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the RCMP, Manitoba Fire Commissioner and the caring and generous community volunteers who searched around the clock in the search for Chase. They noted that while they are completely heartbroken on the loss, the family is overwhelmed by the love and kindness the community has shown.
