Ontario Provincial Police are searching for the body of a nine-year-old boy after a wave swept him and another boy into Lake Erie at Peacock Point in Nanticoke Saturday.

“It’s completely devastating,” said Haldimand County OPP Const. Rod LeClair

“These are the worst calls, any officer will tell you, anything to do with children ... I can’t even comprehend what the family is going through.”

Three children were alone on an ice shelf that formed along the shore of the lake when a large wave swept the nine-year-old and an eight-year-old boy into the frigid waters around 4:30 p.m. Feb. 15. They were about 25 feet from the shoreline.

“They were right on the edge of the ice shelf when the wave came up,” LeClair said.

A 10-year-old girl, the sister of the nine-year-old boy, ran and stopped a passing car. A man and woman got out and were able to rescue the younger boy.

LeClair said they crawled along the edge of the ice shelf and used sticks to save him.

That boy was taken to hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

When OPP got the call they immediately mobilized, calling in the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, the U.S. Coast Guard offered a helicopter and the OPP’s helicopter was also used.

Officers immediately began searching the shoreline and the OPP’s underwater rescue team searched for hours.

About four hours in the OPP determined it was no longer a rescue — but a recovery effort, LeClair said.

The search was called off for the night before 10 p.m. but police are back at the scene Sunday.

Early Sunday morning it was determined the ice build up overnight made it too risky for the underwater search team to go back in. But they remain on scene and will continually reassess to see if they can get back in the water.

The OPP helicopter has also been called back in and officers are searching the shoreline.

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The quiet lakefront community includes some residents who live there year round, but most are cottage rentals, LeClair said.

Some community members have volunteered to help search the shoreline.