The search for two young girls and their father picked up again Saturday morning in a Quebec City suburb, after an Amber Alert was issued this week.
A Quebec provincial police spokeswoman said that while Romy Carpentier, 6, and her sister, Norah Carpentier, 11, have not been seen since Wednesday, police have reason to believe they will find the girls alive.
The girls and their father, Martin Carpentier, are believed to have been involved in a highway accident Wednesday night in the town of St-Apollinaire, south of Quebec City.
“There are elements that lead us to believe that they are still in the area,” police spokeswoman Ann Mathieu said in an interview Saturday morning.
“We believe that these people are still moving, are on the move, so that makes us think that they are still alive.”
Police issued an Amber Alert Thursday afternoon for Romy and Norah, from Levis, Que.
Investigators said they believe the girls and their father were involved in an accident Wednesday night, when the vehicle they were in skidded into the median, flipped over and landed on the shoulder of the opposite lanes of Highway 20.
Martin Carpentier’s car was found empty after the crash, and police have been searching a wooded, rural area near where it took place.
Mathieu, the police spokeswoman, said that objects were found in the woods during the search.
She did not specify what those objects were to avoid affecting the investigation, but she said they will be analyzed to see if they are related to the three missing people.
The search is being carried out on foot, on horseback and on ATVs, and a police canine unit as well as a helicopter are also being used, Mathieu added.
She also said Quebec police are getting help from the Canadian Armed Forces in their aerial search.
“Everything has been done to find the missing people, Martin Carpentier and his two daughters, as quickly as possible. We hope that they are healthy, despite the weather conditions that aren’t necessarily easy,” Mathieu said.
Police say they searched more than 150 kilometres of forests, roads, and cottage access routes on Friday.
On Friday afternoon, Carpentier’s current partner, Cathy Gingras, pleaded for him to contact his family in a video shared on the police’s social media accounts.
“Martin, we’re worried. We haven’t heard from you since the accident. We’re wondering if you’re okay, the girls, Romy, Norah,” said Gingras, who is in tears in the video.
“Give us some news, give us a sign, call your parents, anything. What’s important is that you’re OK, we don’t care about anything else. We just want to know you’re OK.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2020.
Helen Moka, The Canadian Press
