‘There’s a grieving family behind us right now, and they want their son back’

Five people walk in a field of grass. Their backs to the camera. Two people wear safety vests.
Please Bring Me Home conducted three days of searching on the ground in Truro. The organization has a mission to reunite missing persons with their family. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)

e on the ground this weekend searching for Dylan Ehler — a three-year-old who was last seen five years ago in Truro, N.S.

Please Bring Me Home — a volunteer-led national organization — conducted the search with community members and the boy’s father.

Five volunteers from the organization from Ontario flew in on Friday and began their search along the CN Rail line, not too far from where Ehler went missing.

The organization says it’s been aware of Ehler’s case since the time of his disappearance. It has been working alongside Dylan’s father, Jason Ehler.

“There’s a grieving family behind us right now, and they want their son back,” said Melissa Noel, an investigator with the team. “They want to have … a place to go and remember him and put this behind [them].”

Boy with brown hair wears a fur-lined hooded puffer jacket.
Dylan Ehler, 3, disappeared in May 2020. (Town of Truro/Facebook)

Ehler was last seen playing in the yard of his grandmother’s home on Elizabeth Street. During a six-day search following his disappearance, all that was found was a pair of the boy’s boots in Lepper Brook — a creek near the house that feeds into the Salmon River.

Noel said the team found an “item of interest” on Saturday about 160 metres away from the grandmother’s house that has since been turned over to the Truro police. CBC News was unable to confirm the information with Truro police on Sunday.

Community support

Among the community volunteers is Mikel Legere who helped with the search along the Salmon River. He’s a local school teacher and has two kids of his own.

White man wearing black ball cap and grey hoodie. Picture taken from the shoulders up.
Jason Ehler is the father of missing three-year-old, Dylan Ehler. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)

“The Holy Spirit just impressed upon me that we needed to go and help,” said Legere.

Searching for the Sullivan kids

Another search is happening in Nova Scotia for two children who went missing last month in Pictou County.

Jason Ehler said searching for his own child while knowing there are two other kids in Nova Scotia who have disappeared is overwhelming.

Lilly and Jack Sullivan were reported missing on May 2 in Lansdowne Station.

“My heart goes out to the family, ” said Ehler. “The feeling of watching it all play out again, it’s like reliving my own nightmare, even though I relive it every day.”

The search was set to conclude Sunday.