On May 6th, 2020, in Truro, Nova Scotia, every parent's nightmare became a reality for Ashley Brown and Jason Ehler when during an average visit with his grandmother, Dylan Ehler, their then three-year-old son, suddenly vanished from her front yard.

The focus of the police department and search and rescue was immediately focused on the Lepper Brook located behind the grandmother’s property, a small channel of water that feeds into the Salmon River. Many hours after searching for little Dylan, divers produced a set of his rubber boots deep in a hole in the brook.

This led police investigators to believe that Dylan had wandered off from his grandmother’s property when she turned around for less than thirty seconds and had been swept away downstream. The potential that he had entered the water and drowned, in their minds was the most likely scenario.

Unfortunately, there are many circumstances that rule this scenario as one of many that could have developed that day. 

1) Dylan Ehler was 3 years old, wearing a winter jacket and slightly oversized rubber boots that would have greatly disabled his mobility to move extremely fast.

2) In the time his grandmother claims her attention was distracted (approx. 18 seconds), the distance to any body of water would have been significantly difficult for Dylan to reach.

3) Dylan's parents say that though he may have been an adventurous toddler, that he would have hesitated before entering any large body of water.

4) The house he disappeared from was located on the corner of a fairly well-travelled intersection, the likelihood of him running into traffic would have been high had he travelled down the main road, if, in fact, attention was only off of him for a short number of seconds, the distance travelled to the brook by an adult franticly searching for a child should have been able to cover the distance to the brook long before he could have made it.

5) Many people immediately searched the brook, finding no evidence, such as footprints in the banks, that Dylan had even ever entered the area surrounding the brook.

6) Additional resources to help search for Dylan have been repeatedly denied by the Truro Police Department, as Dylan's case is still open and they do not want anyone tampering with their investigation, however, they have stuck by the theory that Dylan drowned in the brook and gave up their search investigation after day five when they launched their recovery efforts. After fourteen months missing, the police department still will not allow additional resources. Other than the rubber boots recovered, which could have theoretically been thrown from a near train bridge, there was no additional evidence that Dylan ever actually entered the water. 

7) If attention was off of him for only moments, regardless of the fact no one ever saw anyone take Dylan, no one saw him enter the water either, so both circumstances are merely theories. Unfortunately, an Amber Alert was not issued as the situation did not meet the requirements to issue such a public alert. 

Dylan’s family has never given up hope, constantly creating and distributing images and posters of their beloved son, holding memorials, rallies, searching the river, and continuing to protest law enforcement for answers.

We have come together to petition Our Minister of Justice, The Honourable Brad Johns provincially and federally, Our Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Nova Scotia, The Honourable David Lametti as well as the Nova Scotia Police Complaints Commissioner, to make a formal complaint against the Truro Police Service for improperly handling the investigation of a missing child, mistreatment of a victims family and failure to secure a crime scene and we ask for the allowance for additional resources and professionals to continue the search for Dylan beyond the Police.

We would also like to bring about a suggestion for an additional Emergency Alert System named the Ehler Alert to be enabled, developed to facilitate the rapid distribution of information to the public about young children lost in potentially hazardous environments.

We suggest that an Ehler Alert be enabled specifically for children under the age of 5, who have gone missing in a high-risk location such as near a riverway, campground or densely populated area, in an urban centre such as a mall or theme park. We believe these circumstances should require an instant public notification for the public to be on the lookout for such a child. When any child goes missing, time is of the essence, and sometimes assembly of search and rescue efforts takes up too much crucial time in the safe recovery of that child. A hazardous environment becomes evidently more dangerous for a young child that has been separated from their caregiver. 

As Chair of the Law Amendments Committee and the Human Rights Commission, we ask that Brad Johns make acknowledgement to these matters and call upon him to fight not just for Dylan, but for the safety of all children as Our Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Nova Scotia.

Please join in the fight for Justice for Dylan Ehler and his family today, by signing this petition, calling on local authorities to allow for the search for Dylan to continue in full force with the resources he and his family deserves.