Montreal police divers have stopped their search for 10-year-old Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou.
Police say there were six different dives in Riviere des Prairies from Monday through Tuesday afternoon.
Sgt. Manuel Couture says the dives are difficult, not just because of the water temperature, but due to ice and snow on the river blocking the sunlight.
Police will continue to look for Ariel but will only plunge into the river again if they receive information they believe warrants further investigation of the shoreline or under the ice.
Last week police on boats used sonar in the Riviere des Prairies without success, and over the weekend they performed tests on the thickness of the ice and the speed of the river's current.
Having determined that it was safe enough, divers entered the river in mid-morning on Monday as they continued their search for the boy.
Police said the water currents were tricky, being very calm in some areas and rushing along just a metre away.
Ten-year-old Ariel has not been seen since March 12 when he left his home in the city's Ahuntsic-Cartierville district to visit a friend's house.
That friend wasn't home and Ariel then wandered around the neighbourhood and was seen at a park next to the river around 2 p.m. by a passerby.
Since he vanished police have searched day and night on foot, horseback, and ATV in the parks north of Gouin Blvd. near Acadie Blvd., and gone door-to-door.
The Kouakou family is convinced that Ariel has been abducted and is offering a reward for anyone with information that leads to the discovery of the child.
That reward amount has climbed to $100,000 after donations from boxer Adonis Stevenson and a Montreal-area businessman.
The Kouakous have asked police to restore an Amber Alert that was issued immediately after Ariel had disappeared, but Couture said it will be up to investigators to make that determination.
Amber Alerts are normally only issued in the case of an abduction.
Pina Arcamone of the Missing Children's Network said random abductions by strangers are very rare, but they do happen.
One such case was that of a girl abducted from Point Saint Charles in 1999.
"Look at Jolene Riendeau, she put on her roller skates in the month of April, said to her dad I''m going to buy a bag of chips and we found her little body 11 years later and no one witnessed anything," said Arcamone.
Police said the Kouakou case has generated 600 tips, most of which have not been useful.
"We're still asking people be aware of any sign any information," said Andrée-Anne Picard of the Montreal police force. "Every little information is very important for us. It could be major for us."
"We're still working on all the theories at this moment," said Picard.
