The parents of two young brothers who drowned in the fast-moving currents of eastern Manitoba’s Nutimik Lake over the weekend say the only thing sustaining them through the “unimaginable” loss of their children is the outpouring of support from community.

Searchers found the body of Maximo Au Ramirez, 10, near the falls on Nutimik Lake Wednesday night, RCMP Staff Sgt. Cory Meyers said during a Thursday news conference.

“We’re going through a terrible, horrible and unimaginable pain for our children,” Meyers said, reading out a portion of a statement from the boys’ parents, Haidee Ramirez and Roger Au.

“It’s hard to understand how a community can be so strong for us and help us so much. The support from everyone is truly what is sustaining our family.”

RCMP and volunteer crews continued the search Thursday for Maximo’s 13-year-old brother, Aaron Au Ramirez.

The boys are believed to have drowned after Maximo slipped off rocks into the fast-moving water on Saturday, and Aaron went in to try to save him, RCMP previously said.

Meyers said crews found clothing on Monday believed to be Aaron’s.

He said about 20 boats with two to three volunteers per vessel joined an RCMP boat, dive team and drone unit, and the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team, or HEART, and others on the water as the search continued Thursday.

“We’re kind of throwing everything we can … at it,” said Meyers.

The parents’ statement said they have “so much gratitude” for people helping look for Aaron.

“This help is so overwhelming,” Meyers read from their statement.

‘We’re not done’: lodge owner

Allison Baker-Thiessen, who owns Nutimik Lodge with her husband, Harry Thiessen, said she got a call from one of the volunteer searchers around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday saying they had recovered a body.

“Both of us are definitely struggling,” said Baker-Thiessen.

Two locals from Betula Lake, as well as one of the boys’ uncles who just travelled from Mexico, were present for the recovery of Maximo, she said.

“It definitely gives a little bit of hope. We are happy that one of the two boys has shown up, but we’re not done,” she said. 

“We want everybody there helping, supporting in different angles, whether it’s jumping on boats, whether it’s bringing your own boat. We need lots of eyes … to help the family bring [Aaron] home.”

Baker-Thiessen started a fundraiser on the website GoFundMe for the family this week. As of midday Thursday, it had raised nearly $63,000.

Cpl. Ryan Cadotte, program manager for the RCMP’s drone unit, said the vehicles enable police to see a few feet deeper into the water than those searching in boats.

Cadotte is focusing on the area where Maximo was found, as well as shallows near shore in the area on Thursday.

This is the third Nutimik Lake search Cadotte has been part of since joining the RCMP drone unit since 2012.

“Unfortunately, these [drowning] incidents, for this particular falls, is not unique,” he said.

Asked about safety concerns at the falls in Nutimik, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the province has “a responsibility around keeping Manitobans safe.”

“Our minister is looking at what the next steps are,” Kinew said during a media call Thursday from Prince Edward Island, where he is attending the annual premiers’ summit.

“What happened is just heartbreaking, and [for] any parent, the mind just races and the heart fills with compassion for these boys and for their family.”