Three Children Reported Missing In Wasaga

(WASAGA BEACH, ON.) – With warmer weather and more families visiting areas to relax that are near or next to bodies of water, an unfortunate regular occurrence is children wandering away from their parents. So far on the Civic Long weekend, members of the Huronia West Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and other emergency services have responded to three missing youth; a 4 year old female, a 7 year old female and an 8 year old female all reported missing on July 29th and thankfully all located safe and sound.

As OPP Officers and parents ourselves we understand the enormous fright and emotional stress a parent feels when a child goes missing.

To help reduce this nightmare, we suggest the following?

1) Talk to your children; emphasize to them the importance of staying near you or telling you when and where they might be going.

2) As a parent respect the marine environment and teach your children to respect it too.

3) Near the water always keep an eye on your children and for the very young or inexperience swimmers never be far away. You only need an inch of water to drown in.

4) Remember that just because your child is taller than the depth of the water does not mean he or she will remember to stand up when they slip and go below the surface of the water.

5) Know what they are wearing to the Beach and take a current picture to have ready if needed.

6) Consider having your young and or inexperience swimmer wear a life jacket when they are in or near the water.

7) Use all floatation devices as “use only with adult supervision”. The wind can change quickly and an off shore breeze can in moments take a raft beyond a child’s swimming ability before they or parents can react.

8) Teach your child to go to a highly visible immovable object if they wander off and NOT to leave that place until you or a uniformed Police Officer arrives.

For more safety and crime prevention tips please visit our website at: www.opp.ca.

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