Even after all this time, people still wonder what happened to little Howard Newell.

On Jan. 22, 1955, the six-year-old child vanished while walking home from a woodlot where members of his family were cutting firewood.

In the days and weeks that followed, the largest search in Yarmouth County history unfolded in the woods and marsh areas of Little River Harbour. More than 1,000 searchers scoured the area searching for the little boy, but there was never any trace of him.

The police concluded that the boy had likely drowned and his body had been washed out to sea.

However even to this day there are people skeptical of that conclusion, particularly in light of a lingering rumour that suggests something different happened to the boy. The police investigated that rumour and determined it to be unfounded. Still, the story persists.

This year would have been the year that Howard Newell turned 60.

Instead, it’s like he never existed.

This has always bothered his family, which is why on July 5 Howard’s surviving siblings are planning a memorial mass at the Melbourne church to celebrate his life, share memories of him and reminisce about the massive search to find him. There will also be a memorial stone placed in the cemetery between the graves of his parents.

In Tuesday’s May 27 edition of the Yarmouth Vanguard, associate editor Tina Comeau has prepared a special report about Howard Newell, the memorial mass his family is planning and their recollections of the day he went missing.

Refer to the print edition of the Yarmouth Vanguard this week for: Little Boy Lost – Bringing Howard home.