Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation

A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.

“You should be here.”

The message, printed on a coloured poster paper and held high by supporters in Cobourg, Ont. on Saturday, is to two-year-old Vienna Irwin, found dead at a small-town Ontario daycare last spring.

At the rally, held in the Irwins’ hometown, community members marked a year since Vienna’s death and highlighted a lack of answers in a police investigation now stretching into its second year.

The event saw a sea of butterflies transform the town’s Division and Elgin intersection. Imagery that has come to symbolize Vienna’s story in Northumberland County, the butterflies adorned posters, tee-shirts, lawn signs, and hats of those who came to mourn the girl.

Vienna was first reported missing from Watch Me Grow Daycare in Baltimore, Ont. on May 25, 2023. Her mother, Claire Irwin, had arrived at the facility, just a short drive north over the 401, at around around 5:20 p.m.

When it was realized Vienna was gone, emergency crews, parents and neighbours began to scour the area. Not long after, she was found at the same address without vital signs and rushed to hospital, but was later pronounced dead.