Over the weekend, 4-year-old Dylan Cecil was at the beach with his two little sisters. Their parents had taken the children to visit family in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, but the Telegraph reports that the trip ended in tragedy. At around 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dylan slipped off a dock and was lost at sea. In the days that followed, his parents searched desperately for their son and were faced with an unsettling sequence of events that took place on Facebook.
McCollum and Cecil looked for Dylan on their own but were unsuccessful. Almost 24 hours after they reported their son missing, the search was called off, Metro.uk.co reports.
The Facebook page that caused Dylan’s parents so much agony is one that appeared mysteriously -- a tribute page made for Dylan by someone who has not been identified by any news outlets and is now taken down. While the page was accessible, there were only two posts on its wall. According to the Telegraph, the first, was a description of the page's purpose: "This is a memory page of Dylan that sadly lost his life, lets show the family we're thinking of them and sending our love. x." The second, was written from the 4-year-old's perspective:
"To my mum, my daddy and sisters and sea side grandparents I love you all am in heaven waiting on you all. I'll be looking down on you :-) x SENT FROM THE RAINBOW AND FLOWERS AND SUNSHINE IN HEAVEN...X."
McCollum reacted on her own Facebook page:
"How low can people be I tried saving my son and a page set up speaking like they are him I'm distraut he is still missing at sea I aint slept at all and to find someone pretending to be my son has distroyed me even more you scummy piece of shit!!!!"
According to Metro.co.uk, Facebook said that the tribute page "violated its terms and conditions of impersonating others" and removed it.
On Monday night, people lit candles in Dylan's memory on the dock where he was last seen, the Guardian reports. They brought flowers and toys to leave in his honor.