Police in Quebec continue grim river search for missing autistic boy

Police working with scuba divers and sonar devices continued the grim search of a river near Montreal on Wednesday for an autistic toddler who has a hearing impairment.

But they say they believe there is virtually no hope of finding three-year-old Adam Benhamama alive.

Laval police Const. Nathalie Lorrain said the search is now basically a recovery operation.

Asked if there was any room for optimism, Lorrain said, “No, not at all.”

An unsuccessful ground search for the boy in the wooded Laval neighbourhood was suspended late Tuesday.

“We have done all we could do as far as the ground search is concerned,” Lorrain said.

“Everything points toward the (Mille-Iles) river, that the little boy had probably gone toward the river and fell into it.”

The boy disappeared Sunday while playing with his seven-year-old sister. His father had momentarily gone inside a friend’s house when his daughter alerted him the boy had vanished.

Police had previously said the boy’s family name is Benhamma, but a family member says that spelling is wrong.

Authorities said the child has a hearing impairment and can make sounds but is non-verbal.

Earlier information that the child was deaf came from the person who alerted the 911 emergency line about the disappearance, Lorrain said.

“The owner of the house where they were visiting called 911 to declare the little boy had disappeared and when the 911 operator asked him if the little boy spoke French, he answered us that he was deaf and couldn’t speak,” she said.

“For us, that information had never been corrected by the family but he does have a hearing impairment. He can’t hear 100 per cent, and he does not speak but we were told can make some sounds.”

Lorrain said the autism diagnosis was recent and she wasn’t sure if the child’s hearing had been tested by a specialist.

“The family had noticed that he wasn’t hearing like he was supposed to and we’re told that if you are beside him and you call out for him fairly loudly he will hear you but from far he wouldn’t hear anything.”

As divers continued to search the river, other rescue workers combed the shoreline.

“What we figure is that he probably sank fairly quickly with all the clothing,” Lorrain said. “You can’t live very long in such cold water.”

Divers told her that the current close to shore is not that strong, although it is swifter around two nearby islands.

Ice that was on the water on the first day has also since broken up in many spots and moved away.

Laval police, helped by Quebec provincial police, scoured woods near the home where the boy’s father was visiting when the youngster disappeared.

The boy’s mother was initially taken to hospital suffering from shock but has since been released, although Lorrain said “she’s not feeling well at all.”

The boy’s father was at the search site being supported by friends.