Walking across the rain-soaked pedestrian bridge are two detectives in pitch-black suits; following them are three family members of the young boy who lost his life last week at Soper Park.
The mother of the young boy holds a box containing the cremated remains of the two-year-old as she follows the detectives to the spot where they found her son.
"We asked the detectives to show us exactly where they found him so we could come and say goodbye," said the mother who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons.
"We never spent more than 24 hours away from each other and now it's been over seven days."
The mother recalls her last moments with her son and how he begged to go to the park that morning adding that Soper Park was his favourite. They had previously been there on the weekend before his death and would meet the boy's father there for family days.
"He loved this park, we would come here almost every day," she said with tears streaming down her face. "It doesn't feel real. I feel like I'm in a dream."
Working shift work, the young boy would follow his mother's work schedule; waking up early and going to sleep early. On Monday, Sept. 23 the pair went to the park before the sun was up to play and enjoy the day before she headed off to work.
She remembers playing with her son at the nearby playground when he asked for water.
"He never leaves my side and when I turned away for one second to get him some water, he was gone," she said.
She panicked and started searching for her son and quickly called police for help. She was hopeful that a camera would have caught what had happened, but when police arrived around 6 a.m., they discovered the boy near the water.
The mother showed CambridgeToday where the boy had been located, just over the pedestrian bridge and around the bend near some large rocks.
She still doesn't understand how her son ended up there and has so many questions that haven't been answered.
"He was my first and only son. I loved him and now he's gone," she said.
She understands the community has many questions, but maintains that she was just trying to spend some time with her son at the park before she went to work.
According to the director of corporate affairs for Waterloo Regional Police Services, Cherri Greeno, police are still waiting for the post-mortem results to determine the circumstances that led to the boy's death.
As of Oct. 1, police said in an email to CambridgeToday that there are still no updates to the investigation.
