Joy over boy's rescue turns to grief over his death

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Only hours after the province celebrated the rescue of seven-year-old James Delorey, the boy's family faced the grim task of telling their other son that his younger brother would not be coming home.

James, who was prone to wandering and whose autism left him unable to speak, died early Tuesday at the children's hospital in Halifax. Lost for two days without winter clothing during the first serious storm of the season, he had been hypothermic and had a weak pulse when found at midday on Monday in the Cape Breton woods near his Sydney-area home.

It was not clear whether he ever regained consciousness.

Melanie Sampson, a neighbour and family friend, called the boy's death "devastating" after hopes were raised by his rescue. She said the Delorey family would need to be alone with its grief.

"The mother has another little boy at home that needs to be told and they need their privacy," she said from her home outside Sydney. "I just hope that people continue to pray for this family and support them."

James's mother, Veronica Fraser, issued a brief statement Tuesday.

"The family would like to thank everyone involved in James's care," it read. "It was amazing to see how everyone would come together. It really kept my hopes alive. We will have more to say later after we've had some time."

Grieving students at Harbourside Elementary School in Sydney were offered counselling and some opted to leave early, said principal Paul MacDonald. The school also put off Christmas concerts in which James was to have participated that were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

"They've been postponed to the new year," Mr. MacDonald said. "We're going to have a no-Christmas concert and we're going to dedicate it to James."

James wandered away from his home on Saturday, and the search for him attracted hundreds of volunteers and included aircraft with night-vision capability.

A volunteer search-and-rescue squad from Halifax spotted James on Monday. He was weak when found, and the dense brush in the area slowed efforts to get him to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, where he was treated but did not survive the night.

"It's really sad," said Lyse Boyce, part of the search team that found James. "We think of the family and the community, and for us it's really sad."

James had wandered before, but this time he left home shortly before winter's first serious storm hit, with sharp winds and sub-zero temperatures. Snow fell until shortly before James was found.

A dog he had been with emerged on Monday morning and searchers followed its tracks to help locate James. The boy was found huddled under thick brush, barely a kilometre from home.