The body of a four-year-old boy reported missing from his grandparent’s home in Elmsvale, N.S. was found in a swimming pool on the property.
Police received a call shortly after 10 p.m. on Wednesday saying Nicholas Baker had disappeared from the home on Highway 224, located roughly 80 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
In the middle of the night, when most children were fast asleep, a frantic search was underway for the toddler.
“It was overwhelming, very surreal,” says the boy's aunt, Nina Drozdowski. “It was like something out of the movies.”
On Thursday, boy's family was left grieving a terrible loss after his body was found in his grandparents' swimming pool.
“It was just a terrible mistake that happened,” says Drozdowski. “It wasn’t anything that anyone could have prevented from happening.”
Baker was reported missing at 10 p.m., but it wasn’t until four hours later that he was found in the pool.
“He was very free-spirited, very energetic, and definitely had a mind of his own,” says his aunt.
RCMP say the pool was checked earlier, but it hasn’t been used yet this year. The pool was covered in what’s described as scum or film.
No one could see the bottom of the pool and the film hadn't been disturbed.
“So the conclusion was reached that at the time the child was likely not in the pool,” says RCMP Cpl. Jadie Spence.
The boy’s aunt has started a GoFundMe page to help his parents pay for his funeral, where donations can be made online at https://www.gofundme.com/29s5q24.
“My sister was scheduled to start school on Monday, and had just left her job to do so,” says Drozdowski. “Her partner is in between jobs right now because of the weather. He does outside work, so things are a little difficult financially right now. This is just going to be tougher for them.”
Drozdowski is clear that she’s not blaming anyone, but she wants to raise awareness about pool safety.
“Unfortunately kids are going to get into wherever, if they have a will, they’re going to find a way to do so,” says Drozdowski. “There just needs to be some stricter laws I believe on fencing around pools.”
There was a fence around the pool where the child’s body was discovered.
RCMP say his death is not considered suspicious and that it appears to be a tragic incident at this point.
Meanwhile, Baker's family want people to know that he was a wonderful little boy who loved monster trucks.
“That’s pretty much what he would talk about day in and day out,” says his aunt. “Playing with them in the dirt, watching them on YouTube, he just loved them.”
Drozdowski says Baker was looking forward to starting school in September.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell.
