Hundreds of people gathered at a vigil last night to honour a toddler who went missing in a rain-swollen river near Orangeville earlier in the week.

A recovery mission began after police say the three-year-old boy was swept away by a fast-moving current when his mother's van slipped into the Grand River early Wednesday morning.

Residents gathered at the scene to light candles and place flowers in honour of the missing toddler -- who some identified as Kaden Young.

Elevated water levels resulted in overflowing banks along the river and police have also said that fog would have created visibility issues for drivers in the area at the time of the incident.