Ottawa police have recovered the body of a 10-year-old boy who disappeared under the water in the Ottawa River.

Emergency crews were called to Constance Bay just after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday for reports of a missing child in the water near Bayview Dr.

Police said the boy and his 20-year-old brother were in the water together when they wandered out into deeper water than they expected. The boy's brother tried to save him, but couldn't reach him and almost drowned in the process. Police said neither brother was a good swimmer and neither was wearing a life jacket.

“It’s a tragic incident,” said Inspector Mark Patterson. “We are trying to support the family. Neither the mother or father are here.”

Bystanders also tried to help, but were unsuccessful. 

Nearby residents say the boy drowned at a spot commonly referred to as 'the point.' It's a location at the beach where the sand bar dips to a depth of at least 17 feet without warning. 

"You just walk and it's at knee level and then it drops. It’s completely unexpected. " said Chanelle Mathieu. “It's very sad." 

Mathieu's home backs onto the Constance Bay Beach. She rushed to the scene Saturday to help the victim's relatives as emergency crews searched the beach for his body. 

"It was chaotic. Lots of responders, dive teams, paramedics and firefighters," she said. 

Longtime residents told CTV Ottawa that the beach has spiked in popularity in recent years going from hundreds to thousands of visitors on any given weekend. Although there are public access points, a debate about whether the beach is public or private has been raging for decades.

Since the beach is not officially a public beach, owned and operated by the City of Ottawa, it is not manned by lifeguards.  Christine Delorme has lived in Constance Bay for decades and said signs need to be added warning people about the deep dip. 

"What we need to do now is definitely put a sign there, stating and having a diagram where the plateau is and where the drop is at the end of the sand bar," Delorme said. 

It is believed the boy's death is the fifth or sixth at 'the point' in recent years.

Police say the 10-year-old was with his family who is visiting from the Toronto area. The boys’ parents were not on the trip, but were informed of the tragedy after it happened.

An autopsy is expected to happen in the coming days. The boy's identify has not been released.