Refresh a rendered template when the model is returning store.queryRecord

I have a route that displays 5 categories. Each category is intended to only have one child. I created a child route and pass the selected category type id as queryparamter. In the child route model() I use the parameter with store.queryRecord() to query the backend to either return the record that matches that type OR nothing. This seems to work fine as long as a record exists. The problem I am running into is if I select a category that doesn’t have a child record. When nothing is returned from queryRecord the template continues to display the previous data. I can see the network request completing successfully and it returns an empty array. If I refresh the page the template correctly shows that there is no model data.

I’ve been struggling all day trying to find a way to refresh the template when the model no longer has a record. I have a feeling I am going at this backwards, I would be grateful for any pointers.