More than two years after disappearance, a new sketch revives hopes to locate Dylan Ehler

The parents of a missing Truro, N.S., toddler are hoping a new image they pushed for will help locate their son.

Dylan Ehler has been missing for two-and-a-half years. A new sketch imagining how he might have matured is being circulated to reignite the search.

While the sketch could be useful, it’s also difficult for Ehler’s mother to look at.

“It just hurts,” Ashley Brown tells CTV Atlantic. “It hurts to look at them, to think that he’s still out there and not with us.”

The age progression drawings depict what Ehler might look like two years later.

Ehler disappeared in May 2020. Investigators believe he fell into a stream behind his grandmother’s house. Searchers found his boots in the water, but nothing more.

His parents believe there’s a chance their son is somehow still alive.

“Every day,” says Ehler’s father Jason. “There’s no proof of him going into that water, other than the boots. You can’t assume anything in a case like this.”

The renderings were completed by an artist with the Ontario Provincial Police. The Truro Police Service shared them on social media last week.

“If he is out there, then hopefully the person that has him will bring him home, or we will get some sightings and hopefully we can find him,” the boy’s father said.

Brown has a similar plea.

“If you see these and you think that you recognize this little boy, then call your local police department. Call Crime Stoppers. Call the Truro Police,” she said.

The investigation into Ehler’s disappearance remains active. That’s despite Truro Police saying they do not think foul play was involved in the boy’s disappearance.

A request for an interview with the Truro Police Service went unanswered Friday.