Winnipeg divers end search for boy

Police divers ended their searchSunday for the body of six-year-old Nathaniel Thorassie in Winnipeg's Red River.

The search was called off when the ice conditions were deemed too treacherous.

The head of the dive team, consisting of members from the Winnipeg Police Service, the Winnipeg Fire Department and the Canadian Amphibious Search Team, told CBC News the search for the boy ended Sunday at sundown with no success.

Sgt. Rob Riffelsaidthat coming up empty-handed is a huge disappointment to the dive team members.

His unit andvolunteer divers from the Canadian Amphibious Search Team(CAST) searched the murky bottom of theriver for 28 days, coveringmore than a kilometre butThorassie's bodywas simply not to be found.

The Manitoba Search and Rescue Association (MSRA) also scoured the river at one point, picking up the effort after the Winnipeg police dive unit briefly haltedits search in mid-December.

Thorassie was playing on the ice and fell into the river on Dec. 4. Police and volunteer divers have been battling water conditionsand zero-visibility in their search for the boy's body.

Mclain Flett, the boy's mother, said she was upset the search has ended and still believes that her son's body could be found.