Missing 4-year-old seen playing by the river before falling in: Prince Albert police
Police provide update on search efforts for Sweetgrass Kennedy, one week after his disappearance
A four-year-old boy was last seen playing with a group of children on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River on May 10, according to the Prince Albert Police Service.
The police service held a press conference one week following Sweetgrass Kennedy's disappearance, providing details on the "exhaustive community search" efforts, followed by an intensive search focused on the river.
Sweetgrass Kennedy was reported missing to the police at about 9 p.m. CST on May 10, according to police. Emergency services and volunteers began a search from Thursday evening until Friday evening, while the City of Prince Albert activated resources through its Emergency Operations Centre.
Police said that on Friday, they received a tip from a witness that had seen children playing on the riverbank in the 800 block of River Street east, which was only blocks away from the child's home.
Based on witness testimony, police learned that Sweetgrass Kennedy had fallen into the water and had not been seen emerging from the water.
After confirming the fall through multiple firsthand witness reports and physical evidence, police shifted focus, stopping civilians' search and rescue efforts and focusing on the river instead.
Saskatoon Police Service's air support did an aerial search 60 km downstream from the spot, while Prince Albert Grand Council's (PAGC) First Nations Emergency Management Branch provided professional search and recover teams to help with the effort.
Saturday saw teams using sonar technology in the water, as professionally trained individuals from Grandmother's Bay and Stanley Mission came to help with the search.
In a press release, PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte noted it was a "difficult ordeal" for Sweetgrass Kennedy's family, and said the council felt it was important to support the police by involving Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management.
The teams brought special skills and high-tech equipment such as a remotely-operated underwater vehicle to assist with the search, he noted.
Throughout the weekend and into Monday, the Saskatoon Fire Department's Dive Search and Rescue team came in, focusing on an area that was within 300 metres of where Sweetgrass fell into the river, but the child was still not found.
As of Thursday afternoon, the search continued for Sweetgrass Kennedy.