UPDATED: Remains recovered by RCMP believed to be missing youth

West Hants families now have closure as the body of the fourth and final flood victim is thought to have been recovered.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Supt. Sean Auld, a support services officer with the Nova Scotia RCMP, said they recovered a body around 10:35 a.m. Tuesday that is believed to be of the youth that went missing in Brooklyn during flash flooding on July 22.

“With regret, I can share that yesterday we recovered human remains on the shores of Advocate Harbour in Cumberland County,” said Auld.

The body was discovered by someone walking their dog.

“We’re working with the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service to positively identify the remains,” Auld added.

Sgt. Rob Frizzell, operations non-commissioned officer with the West Hants RCMP detachment, said the body was located “about 75 kilometres as the crow flies” from where the youth was last seen, approximately 100 kilometres following the flow of different rivers and tributaries.

More than three months’ worth of rain fell during a 24-hour period, resulting in flash flooding throughout West Hants. Based on the sheer volume of water and the force behind that flash flood, which pushed a tractor-trailer off the road as well as the vehicles the victims were travelling in, Frizzell said it wasn’t unusual that the youth’s body ended up in Cumberland County. One of the other flood victims was located on a beach in Kings County.

The name of the young person, who was between the ages of 12 and 18, has not been released, however, it has been shared online as well as during remarks made at the press conference.

Three others went missing in the flooding on July 22: Nick Holland, 52, of Windsor, and two six-year-olds Colton Sisco, of Martock, and Natalie Harnish, of Brooklyn. Police announced on July 24 and 25 that their remains were found.

“No words can describe the sympathy that we feel for each of the families who have been so deeply affected by the floods,” said Auld.

“Although we wish the outcome was different, we’re grateful that each person could return to their close families,” he said.

Premier Tim Houston offered his condolences to the families mourning the loss of loved ones.

“These floods have caused a tremendous amount of heartache and pain for our province for sure,” said Houston.

“To the family today, I want you to know how very sorry I am personally but how very sorry the province is for what happened,” he continued.

“We will clean out basements, fix culverts and fix driveways and rebuild bridges and all that will happen, but we lost four souls here and we will never forget that.”

West Hants Mayor Abraham Zebian said that while it was a sad day, it was also positive that all four people have been, or will be, laid to rest.

“They’re back home; they’re where they should be. They’re with their families now,” said Zebian.

The mayor said all four will always be remembered.

“…I will mention their names today because the names need to be remembered — Natalie, Colton, Nicholas and Terrilyn — remember the names, remember the faces. They’re angels up above now,” said Zebian.

Hants West MLA Melissa Sheehy-Richard’s voice was cracking as she reflected on the community’s loss.

“What has happened here is unimaginable and no family should ever have to go through this,” said Sheehy-Richard.

Kings-Hants MP Kody Blois said it was a bittersweet day, as it brings closure to the family of the fourth missing person.

“Today brings a certain level of closure for our communities here in the West Hants area and I think you’ll hear from all of us that we’re very thankful for that. It is a sad time,” Blois said.

“We all had the opportunity to be at the funerals of the two young individuals who passed away. Words don’t describe how much this is impacting the community. But there’s strength in our community and togetherness and I’m certainly proud to be able to represent these areas.”

Searchers thanked

Like many in attendance at the news conference, Sheehy-Richard thanked the first responders who have worked tirelessly to try to locate the missing people.

“I personally will be forever grateful for the amount of people that have stepped up, the heroic efforts of my volunteer fire departments who answered the call fearlessly and we have now have some closure,” said Sheehy-Richard.

“To everyone who has spent the hours searching, there is some peace in the closure that we have found today.”

On Monday, RCMP said they were temporarily suspending the search for the youth due to dangerous deep pockets of water in the secondary search zone. The search of the primary zone in Brooklyn, which had “a lake worth of water” that had to be pumped out, was exhausted on July 27. Efforts focused on an adjacent search site, as well as a shoreline search.

As of July 31, search crews had covered more than 495 acres of ground, 104 square kilometres of watershed and tidal waters, and 417 square kilometres of shoreline by air.

The search was led by a number of agencies, including numerous ground search and rescue units, volunteers and civilian contractors.

Volunteer firefighters from across the province also aided in the search efforts, as well as conducted a number of rescues.

The premier thanked all those involved in the search efforts, as well as those helping during the height of the storm that saw a number of road washouts, and culvert and bridge collapses.

“We’ll never know how many lives you saved, people that were stranded that you rescued and other crisis that you averted,” he said.

The searchers spent nine days in the field trying to bring some closure to the families.

“For each of the nine days of the search, team members worked through challenging conditions, always with the families and the community at the forefront of their thoughts,” said Auld. “I have the deepest respect for their resolve to reunite the missing with their families.”