The parents of a missing 5-year-old boy who fell into the fast-moving Androscoggin River in Auburn last week are asking for help to bring their son home.
Valerio McFarland, 5, was swept away along with his older brother, Maxim McFarland, on April 24 while the two were playing on the riverside at the foot bridge near Bonney Park in Auburn.
The boys’ father and 8-year-old sister also went into the river in an attempt to rescue the boys, Auburn police said last week. The father and sister were not injured.
Maxim McFarland was rescued that night from the river near Gagne & Sons Concrete on Riverside Drive in Auburn and transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was initially listed as in critical condition, according to Auburn police. His parents said he continues to recover but is now in fair condition.
Authorities on Friday suspended their search for Valerio McFarland after the operation began Tuesday night, Auburn police Deputy Chief Jason Moen said in a statement last week. Moen said divers had “exhausted” all search options along the river, but he added that the Maine Warden Service would continue to maintain a presence along the river.
Meanwhile, Valerio McFarland’s parents are calling on the public to help bring them closure.
“Volunteer search and rescue efforts are volunteering to help find Valerio,” his mother, Helena Gagliano-McFarland, said. “Our hope is we are able to find him, because of the conditions of the river there is the possibility that he might be swept out to sea if he hasn’t already done that. We want to just be able to recover him so that we can give him a proper burial.”
A Facebook page, “ Valerio McFarland,” has been set up.
Search efforts will be posted there as well as two fundraising campaigns to help with medical expenses.
The McFarlands are also hoping to use the money to put some forms of protection around the river.
BDN writer Christopher Burns contributed to this report.
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