TRURO, N.S. -- Instead of trick-or-treating with their son this weekend, the parents of Dylan Ehler were trying to find him.
"It was really hard," said Dylan's mother, Ashley Brown. "Dylan would’ve been really into it this year."
After six months of searches that have led to little the missing boy's parents are upping their reward for information -- the amount is now $18,207.
"Dead or alive, we want him back," said his father, Jason Ehler. "We need him back."
The three-year-old boy was last seen playing outside his grandmother’s house in Truro, N.S., on May 6.
An extensive search was launched for the missing toddler, but only his boots were found.
Truro Police Chief Dave MacNeil says it’s still an open missing persons investigation.
"There’s been a water component, there’s been a ground component, there’s been all sorts of technology employed throughout the course of the investigation and we continue to do so as leads come in," MacNeil said.
For Ehler’s parents, the not knowing has been agonizing.
They search by drone, daily, have led more than a dozen search parties, and are in weekly contact with police.
"Some days, I feel like I’m bothering them," Jason Ehler said. "And other days they’re nice."
Says MacNeil: "The family has never been a bother to us. Our role is the same. We both want to locate Dylan and bring resolve to the case for the family and the community. This has been hard on everybody."
