We may never know the why but cops at least know the who.
They were, in fact, mother and son. But the reason 30-year-old Andrea Johnson of Toronto decided to kill herself and her son Sulla Genua over the 401 Sunday, is still a mystery. The boy was just two-years old.
Emergency phone lines began to ring with frantic calls from motorists and witnesses just after 7pm, when the stunned crowd refused to believe what their eyes had seen - a woman clutching a young child climbing up an overpass railing near Morningside Road and jumping to the ground below.
Johnson died at the scene as unaware motorists accidentally drove over her.
Sulla was rushed to hospital. But he didn't make it and succumbed en route, a victim of severe head injuries.
Authorities were able to I.D. the duo Monday afternoon, after issuing their description and putting out a public appeal.
A post mortem shows the mother died of multiple trauma. The little boy succumbed to blunt impact head trauma.
Now police are left with the difficult task of tracing the pair and their last movements.
A T.T.C. bus driver recalls them getting off his eastbound Sheppard vehicle, then heading straight for the bridge.
At least one driver saw Johnson near the edge and stopped to plead with her, but he couldn't reach her before she made her final and fatal decision.
Even veteran cops were aghast at the incident. "I'd seen some horrific things and, you know, when there's children involved in any kind of thing it's just -- you know, it's just horrific," admits Cst. Dave Woodford of the O.P.P.
Those who both saw or heard of the incident can scarcely believe it.
"I don't think I could ever walk across this bridge again and not think about the tragedy that happened," relates area resident Patti Deeks. "I just feel so sad."
The motive for the act is baffling. There doesn't appear to be any reason for what happened Sunday night, or what could drive a mother to such obvious desperation.
"I have two daughters, and I love them so much and I just can't imagine what would bring me to that point where I feel that I'd have to end their life like that," she agrees.
Doctors who see this behaviour too often believe there's a common thread in these cases.
"Most patients who commit suicide, and especially those who commit suicide together with taking the child's life with them, have some form of mental illness," explains psychiatrist Dr. Mark Berber. "They see the future as black, as bleak, and they think it's better for them and for their loved ones to be dead."
Berber believes there's a different perception between when a man commits these kinds of terrible acts and when a woman is the culprit.
"When a man kills himself and especially when he takes a child with him, too, he's seen as bad, and as angry, as a bully. Whereas he's not seen as mentally ill, even if that is the case," Dr. Berber adds.
If you know someone who is experiencing symptoms of depression - like sleeplessness, anxiety, agitation and being in a constant low mood, get them some help. It is available and it does work - if it doesn't come too late.
five-year-old girl miraculously survivedInara Amarsi made a full recovery, while her father Alnoor died in the fall.
Sadly there was no similar miracle this time around.