DORCHESTER Ont. (London Freepress)

By JANE SIMS Freepress reporter
DORCHESTER -- There was still a glimmer of hope even an hour into the frantic search. But as each minute ticked by, the chances of finding a missing four-year-old boy alive began to fade yesterday. He had gone missing at a Thames Centre home on Hamilton Road, just east of Dorchester. Middlesex OPP said the boy had been playing with his six-year-old brother. His mother lost sight of him for just a moment.


The fear was he had fallen into a pond behind the family's house and a large green shed. Shortly before 4 p.m., emergency crews hastily arrived and divers combed the water for the little boy. Family members were seen hugging each other. Thames Centre firefighters pulled rescue equipment together near the playhouse and swing set. OPP officers did a ground search out to the road. Another diver arrived. Then a pickup truck with a family member, unaware of the tragedy unfolding at the home until told by a firefighter, sped up to the house. Still no sign. About 5 p.m., there was a flurry of activity -- people running, an ambulance speeding away. A police cruiser carrying the boy's parents in the rear seat followed closely behind. Then the sombre silence. Firefighters packed up and drove away. Police officers took forensic photographs. "The Thames Centre fire department went above and beyond," said Middlesex OPP Det. Const. Jeff Gray at the end of the lane before leaving. The boy was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital of Western Ontario at 5:45 p.m.
The little boy was Jacob Anwin Marczenko who was the son of Laurie and Steve Marzenko and the grandson of Greenfield Park's Ann and Win Swinwood.Jacob will be waked at Bieman Funeral Home, 3970 Hamilton Road, Dorchester, ON , (519 ) 268-7672. Visitation will be from 2 pm to 4 pm on Tuesday and the funeral will be on Wednesday.

Ralph B.

In all the confusion I messed up and forgot to write that visitation was also on Tuesday from 7-9 p.m.
So Correct visitation is Tuesday afternoon 2 - 4 P.M. and Tuesday Evening from 7 - 9 P.M. Funeral will be Wednesday at 11 A.M.Thanks once again, Ralph B.

Just got an email from Carolyn Dalgard and she said the funeral notice says that "Memorial donations to the Thames Centre-Dorchester Volunteer Fire Dept" would be appreciated. Thanks Ralph B.