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2mo ago

Six-Year-Old Autistic Boy Found Dead at New Waterford Shore After Home Escape

Authorities are probing the circumstances of his escape from a kitchen window to inform future safety measures for autistic children.

The edge of a cliff in a field area close to the top end of Convent Street in New Waterford. Emergency personnel — including the regional police service’s dive unit, a regional fire rescue and EHS — attended the scene from the waterside to discover the body of a young boy on Saturday near a shoreline area close to New Waterford.
A steep cliff with a drop of about 60 feet is located in a field near the top of Convent Street in New Waterford. Police and fire crews found a child's body near the shoreline of New Waterford on Saturday afternoon.
Cape Breton Regional Police say they and fire crews found the body of a six-year-old boy off the shore of New Waterford on Saturday afternoon.
Nova Scotia's provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Overview

  • The boy was reported missing Saturday afternoon after his mother discovered he had climbed out a kitchen window in New Waterford.
  • Cape Breton Regional Police, the services dive unit, New Waterford Volunteer Fire Department and Emergency Health Services arrived near 2 p.m. and recovered his body off Convent Street’s cliffs.
  • Gerald Coady, deputy fire chief, confirmed the victim was a six-year-old male with autism and said his name is being withheld for privacy reasons.
  • Police extended condolences to the family and stated that the fatality remains under formal investigation by Cape Breton Regional Police.
  • The incident has underscored calls for enhanced home security measures, such as window locks, to prevent unsupervised elopement by vulnerable children.