Mom endured 50 years of grief after losing tot to Bow River

Left: Larry Nelson

Calgary Herald - Calgary,AB,Canada

Mom endured 50 years of grief after losing tot to Bow River

Losing a child can profoundly alter one's life: experts

By Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald
August 17, 2009

CALGARY - As a young boy, Larry Leroy Nelson was afraid of the water. The three-year-old hated bath time and fought it like a cat. At the beach, he was too scared to dip his tiny toes in the lake.
When he disappeared in front of two helpless playmates -- the sole witnesses saw his small red snowsuit bobbing along in the Bow River as he was swept away --and was presumed drowned on Dec. 23, 1957, Larry's family was grief-stricken.
His mother, Madelien Flavel, went to her grave two years ago at age 70 still questioning her son's fate five decades after losing him.
His body was never found. No death certificate was ever issued. The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy's disappearance became a lifelong obsession for his mother.
In death, she passed down her quest for answers to relatives.
Now, another generation has inherited the same tragic curiosity about that afternoon two days before Christmas more than 50 years ago. (more...)

Additional link: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/184dmab.html