Hope fades in search for 4-year-old Nicolas Pineault
A hat belonging to a missing boy from central Quebec was found in the Nicolet River, four kilometres downstream from the boy’s home, police said Friday afternoon.
The search for Nicolas Pineault focused on the river Friday after volunteers and police spent two days searching the area near the boy's home in Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, near Victoriaville.
Nicolas was wearing a black tuque when he disappeared Wednesday afternoon while playing outside the house, built about 50 metres from the riverbanks on an island in the Nicolet River.
The boy’s mother, Chantal Jobin said her son has been warned about the river and she can’t understand why he would go near it.
"For me, it is unimaginable that he would have gone towards the river," his mother, Chantal Jobin, said Friday. "But it is looking like that is what happened".
Though the yard is not enclosed by a fence, the family has established clear limits for their children, Jobin said.
"It has been four years that he has been playing outside and he has never gone near there," she said. "Our rule is if the ball falls in the water — so be it. We’ll buy another ball. Security comes first".
Whether Nicolas is dead or alive, Jobin said, she needs to know what happened.
Three police divers searched the river Friday, an operation made difficult by the quick current, police said.
“Yesterday we started in the most likely area,” Sgt. Yves Michaud said. “We tried to find areas where he could be hidden under a rock or behind a tree in the water. … Today, we are further from the place where he would have fallen if that is what happened”.
Investigators will also meet with villagers in case anyone saw something.
The ground search for the boy was called off Thursday evening after more than 100 volunteers and provincial police officers combed the area all day using a helicopter and search dogs. Soldiers on a training exercise in the area lent a hand.
Nicolas was wearing the tuque, a black fleece coat and green pants when he vanished.
CBC News
