'I think somebody has him': Grandmother of missing boy says in first interview since his disappearance

Dylan Ehler's grandmother speaks Few questions have been answered about disappearance of Truro boy and the last person to see Dylan does first interview with Sarah Plowman.

TRURO, N.S. — Without knowing where their son is, Dylan Ehler's parents did what they know he would love to do — launch little dissolvable boats marked with messages of hope and love, one year after he disappeared.

"It's tough. It's sad to put a boat out in memory of a child," Jason Ehler said. "It was a special day for him, but a sad day."

His son, three-year-old Dylan Ehler, was last seen by the toddler's grandmother Dorothy Parsons in her backyard in Truro. For the first time, she spoke with CTV News.

"I went to tie the dog on her lead and I turn around and Dylan is just gone. Gone. I have no explanation," Dorothy Parsons said, adding she believes it all happened within 18 to 20 seconds.

"I don't think he went near the water. I think somebody has him," she said. "To not be able to have him, hear him, laughing playing ... I'm just destroyed."

Truro Police don't suspect foul play, but 365 days after his disappearance, the questions are the same.

An extensive search was launched for the missing toddler, but only his boots were found.

"There are days when I feel the most logical explanation (is) that he went in the river," said Ashley Brown, Dylan's mother. "And then there are days when I think all the branches and trees and debris in the water that should've stopped him. They stopped his boots. Why didn't they stop him?"

Jason Ehler has been critical of Truro Police's investigation and said he's made a complaint.

"They've put me in the dark," Ehler said.

CTV News requested an interview with Truro Police Thursday but were told Chief Dave MacNeil was not available. In an email, a city spokesperson said the case remains an open and active investigation.

In March the couple went to court to stop cyberbullying attacks — hoping a judge will order Facebook groups to be shut down and award the couple damages under a cyberbullying law brought in five years ago.

"It's still going on to a degree, but I think we've made some progress," Brown said.

Despite time passing, the parents said dealing with Dylan's disappearance hasn't gotten any easier.

"The longer he's gone it's harder and harder," she said.

And so they vow to keep searching and paying tribute to their son to show him he is loved.