Today, May 6, 2025, marks exactly five heartbreaking years since three-year-old Dylan Ehler vanished without a trace from his grandmother’s backyard in Truro, Nova Scotia.

It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon in 2020 when Dylan, dressed in his favorite oversized yellow rubber boots, was happily playing just feet from the house on Elizabeth Street. His grandmother stepped inside for mere moments. When she returned, the little boy with the bright smile and boundless energy was gone.

Within minutes, panic spread. Neighbours poured into the streets. Police, fire crews, search-and-rescue teams, helicopters, drones, and hundreds of volunteers scoured every inch of the small town. The search focused on Lepper Brook – a narrow, fast-moving stream that runs behind the property and feeds into the powerful Salmon River. Less than an hour after Dylan disappeared, searchers made the chilling discovery that would become the only physical clue: both of Dylan’s unmistakable yellow rubber boots, floating separately about 300 metres downstream in the brook.

No clothing. No toys. No signs of struggle. No witnesses. Just those two tiny boots – far too big for his little feet, the ones he insisted on wearing because they made him feel like a “big boy.”

Despite one of the most exhaustive searches in Nova Scotia history – involving underwater sonar, cadaver dogs, and the RCMP’s major crimes unit – nothing else has ever been found. The Salmon River was dragged repeatedly. Nearby wells, culverts, abandoned buildings, and wooded areas were torn apart. Private investigators were hired. Billboards went up across the Maritimes. Tips flooded in from across Canada and even internationally, yet every lead ended in crushing disappointment.

For Dylan’s parents, Ashley and Jason Ehler, the past five years have been a living nightmare. They have never stopped fighting. They created the “Forever 3 – Team Dylan” foundation, organized candlelight vigils, and continue to post daily pleas on social media. Ashley still sets a place for Dylan at the dinner table. Jason still checks the backyard every night before bed, half-expecting to see his son waving from the swings.

The official theory remains that Dylan wandered to the brook and was swept away in the strong current – a tragic accident. Yet many questions linger. How could a toddler vanish so completely in broad daylight? Why were the boots found so far apart and upstream from where they should have travelled? Why has no trace of his body ever surfaced, despite the river being searched dozens of times?

Conspiracy theories and online speculation have swirled for years, causing the family additional torment. Accusations, harassment, and cruel rumours have forced them to move multiple times. Through it all, Ashley and Jason have begged the public: “If you know something, say something. We just want our baby home.”

Five years later, the oversized yellow boots remain the haunting symbol of one of Canada’s most agonizing unsolved mysteries. A little boy lost. A family frozen in grief. And a question that echoes across the country:

Where is Dylan Ehler?