River search for boy becomes recovery effort

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This article was published 04/07/2020 (2064 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The search for a missing nine-year-old boy who was last seen in the Red River continued Saturday, although police say it’s now considered a recovery effort.

Const. Jay Murray told a news conference there is still some hope Darius Bezecki will be found alive, and that he may have gotten out of the river.

The boy’s family took shelter under umbrellas, tents and tarps Saturday near the Louise Bridge where they watched the Winnipeg Police Service’s underwater search and recovery unit comb the river for the boy who disappeared into the river Friday afternoon.

The rain combined with the undercurrent and muddy water posed a challenge as crews navigated around trees that had fallen into the river.

Despite the conditions, family members held onto hope.

On the edge of the riverbank, Darius’s family tended to a fire that will not be put out until he is found. Preparing for a long wait, someone pushed a shopping cart filled with driftwood to fuel the flames, leaving the smoke to drift into the overcast, grey skies.

Dressed in a yellow rain poncho, Darryl Contois offered support to family members.

Contois, a member of Evelyn Memorial Search Team, arrived Friday with his boat and said he was on the water until 2 a.m. Saturday with the Bezecki family.

“I came and talked to the family, and I talked to Edward, which is the dad. I told him I was going to be putting a boat in the water to help and assist to try and locate Darius,” said Contois.

“As you can see there’s a lot of floating debris and logs we have to go through and to top it off we got rain this morning and stuff like that.”

As the day progressed, the rainfall eased, and the crews continued their search.

Members of Bear Clan Patrol, Thunderbird, and Evelyn Memorial Search Team joined forces to investigate the banks and other areas the strong current may have swept the boy.

Just before 1 p.m. a diver from the underwater search-and-recover unit went into the water and was there for nearly an hour. As the diver emerged from the water, onlookers thought perhaps Darius had been found, only to learn the team was moving further down the river.

While crews continued to navigate the water, members of the community visited the scene offering condolences, support and food to family members.

“Right now, the dad is trying to sleep because he was up all night. We tried to get him to change because he was wet and you can get cold, but he wouldn’t leave the river,” said Contois.

Later Saturday afternoon the sun came out, but the heat and humidity didn’t deter searchers from their mission. As the WPS team awaited the arrival of an additional diver, family and community members sat by with heavy hearts.

At a press conference Saturday morning, Winnipeg Police Spokesman Const. Jay Murray said Darius was with his siblings and a friend when the incident occurred.

“It’s my understanding that Darius lives nearby the river,” said Murray.

“He was with a number of his siblings and a friend. They were riding their bikes. They had made their way to the river at just about 4:30 p.m., just after that time, someone reported seeing at least one of the children in the water.”

Murray said while it is unclear what prompted the children to enter the water, they hope to learn more about that as the investigation moves forward.

Murray said the impact of the incident will be felt across many communities.

“I don’t think anyone can fathom the pain, the anxiety, the worry that the family is experiencing right now. It was incredibly tough to speak with them, to see that raw emotion that they were displaying… I think this is an incident that’s going to tug at the hearts of a lot of people in Winnipeg and even beyond our city,” said Murray.

At the time of the Free Press’ deadline, Darius’s body had not been recovered from the Red River.

nadya.pankiw@freepress.mb.ca