The Sûreté du Québec would have found the body lifeless of two girls in a wooded area of Saint-Apollinaire.
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11 July 2020 12h48
Updated at 22h09
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The two girls Levis found dead, Martin Carpentier always on the run
Judith Desmeules
The Sun
SAINT-APOLLINAIRE — The body inanimate Norah and Romy were found in the woods, somewhere between the rows of Wood-Joly and Wood Garlic in Saint-Apollinaire, on the South Shore of Quebec city. The father, Martin Carpentier, has still not been located. This is the worst scenario.
In the beginning of the day Saturday, the Sûreté du Québec had good hope of finding the girls alive. Norah had 11 candles, Romy was only 6 years old. They were missing since Wednesday evening, after a nebula swerving on highway 20 in the company of their father, Martin Carpentier.
The deaths have been officially confirmed by the Sûreté du Québec to 17h Saturday.
The AMBER alert had been launched on Thursday, since then, all eyes were on the goings and comings of the trio.
At the end of Saturday evening, the Sûreté du Québec had not put the hand on Martin Carpentier. The police will continue the search throughout the night, the patrol boats crisscross in particular, the streets and trails.
“There are people who work on the record 24 hours on 24 hours,” insisted the sergente Ann Mathieu.
We confirm, unfortunately, that the two people #found earlier in the area of Saint-Apollinaire are #dead and that he is of two young girls missing, or Norah and Romy Carpentier.
— Sûreté du Québec (@sureteduquebec) July 11, 2020
After three days of searching for the girls
During the searches Friday, the agents had found several objects to suggest the passage of the family in the area. They followed in their footsteps by knowing that the father and the two children were in motion. Cries had been heard in the night near the rue Veilleux.
Friday, the different research teams (on foot, in all-terrain vehicle, with the dogs or in the air with the helicopter) had raked more than 150 km. It was a real race against the clock to find the girls safe and sound. More time passes, the more people that are missing may enlarge the gap between them and those who are trying to find.
On Saturday, volunteers from throughout the area came to lend hand-strong to the agents of the SQ. People close to the family, such as strangers touched by the tragedy.
The on-site teams had raked the day before more than 150 km in the forest, and road access to cottages, especially with the volunteer group Search and rescue Québec-métro (RSQM).
Sun, Yan Doublet
“They asked us to walk along the ranks, the trails, the BIKE paths,” says André Relief.
The volunteers accompanied them as the fire department to do a tour of cabins in the area, to ensure that nobody is hiding.
Then around noon, the officers asked everyone to step away from the wood.
“They had found something. We heard them speak… It was not far away, you hoped so much that they are hidden in a cottage. Finally, I’m glad I didn’t fall in on them, it is a memory hard to keep.”
André’s Relief was having difficulty to contain his tears. He had come from Lévis to help because he was struggling to imagine the hell that these little girls had to live. Several other volunteers have also struggled to collect the new.
“We’d hope to find in life, I think that the whole world clung to it,” says Nathalie Massicotte. She worked on the row of Wood-Joly when agents of the SQ began to block many streets. She knew they had found something, she prayed, however, for good news.
“It’s going to stay in our minds. We wanted to believe that the father would protect his children”, she adds.
Many curious people quickly gathered near the tracks blocked, knowing that something was going on. We saw several police cars ride in every sense.
Sun, Yan Doublet
Many curious people quickly gathered near the tracks blocked, knowing that something was going on. We saw several police cars ride in every sense.
And then the news came, the two bodies of young girls had been found, it became obvious that it was Norah and Romy, even if the SQ did not confirm the death. Difficult to remain insensitive, they are all affected by the tragic ending of this story.
“The important thing now, in the mobilization of the population, it is to be vigilant because we are actively looking at Martin Carpentier, who could be in the area of Saint-Agapit, Saint-Apollinaire. Any person which is aware this individual is asked to contact 9-1-1 immediately,” said the sergente Ann Mathieu.
Amber Alert
Man hunt
The AMBER alert has been discontinued and the man-hunt to find Martin Carpentier, still not been located, was launched. The teams of police officers are actively in pursuit. The road to the Ormière, the rang Saint-Lazare, the route of the Streams, the rank Bois Joly… All blocked to let the agents work.
Several reports have been made to the police, the citizens say they have seen it in the woods to the race. Around 17h, the Sûreté du Québec was thought to have surrounded the suspect in a perimeter.
“We consider that all the reports which we are made are based until the contrary is proved. We take all calls very seriously,” notes the spokesman of the Sûreté du Québec, Ann Mathieu.
Then, around 19h, “the fugitive would have been momentarily spotted by the police”, according to information held by The Press. They would have then lost track of him again.
Special Collaboration, Steve Jolicoeur
It indicates the citizens of Saint-Apollinaire and the surrounding area to keep the eye open, however, they should not intervene with Martin Carpentier if he is sighted. We do not know the state of mind of the suspect, 44-year-old.
There are a lot of police work and a lot of action in this municipality is usually very quiet. Teams of horse riding, the squads canines, two helicopters, ATVS and many patrollers have been deployed in the area. It is an intervention that achieved a rare scale.
“We’re really in a deployment police important. We note the support of our partners, the police in Lévis (québec), the Québec police, that of Thetford Mines and the armed Forces. We are working all for the same purpose,” says the sergente Ann Mathieu.
Door-to-door
Officers have also carried out an operation of door-to-door among the residents of the row Bois Joly, Saint Lazare and the Ormière with a photo of Martin Carpentier, mainly on Saturday night. They want well-informed citizens who are less comfortable with the Internet or who did not watch the tv.
The officers of the SQ will be well identified.
Recall that the mother of the children and Martin Carpentier are separated for several years.
The current spouse of Martin Carpentier, Cathya Gingras, had launched a cry of the heart on the social networks on Friday, she urged him to give the news. His video has gone unanswered.
#AlerteAMBER | Here’s a message from Cathy Gingras, the current spouse of Martin Carpentier. We join his voice to encourage the people to remain vigilant in order to find Norah, Romy and their father. pic.twitter.com/16tYgMsQus
— Sûreté du Québec (@sureteduquebec) July 10, 2020
A Griffon helicopter of the canadian armed Forces seeking the suspect, Martin Carpentier
Sun, Yan Doublet
A “national tragedy”
In the evening, messages of sympathy came from all units. Shortly after the announcement of the discovery of the bodies, prime minister Francois Legault and the deputy first minister Geneviève Guilbault have offered their thoughts to the family of the girls, including their mother.
1/4 Like all Quebecois, I am shocked, without words. To lose two children, what is most dear in life, this is incomprehensible. It is a national tragedy.
— François Legault (@francoislegault) July 11, 2020
A mother lives for her children, and their survival is a tragedy that no words can translate. My heart weeps with that of the mother of Romy and Norah, to whom I wish a courage unimaginable. All efforts are being made to clarify the circumstances of this tragedy.
— Genevieve Guilbault (@GGuilbaultCAQ) July 11, 2020
The mayor of Lévis, Gilles Lehouillier, has also sent his sympathies to the family via the social networks. “The events involving the young Norah and Romy Carpentier are an atrocity without a name. There is no word for ‘ heal the wounds that inhabits the mom of these two beautiful little girls of Lévis and the families affected by this national tragedy,” he wrote.
He also praised the work of police officers of the Service de police de Lévis and the Sûreté du Québec.
A vigil in honor of victims
The parc des Chutes-de-la-Chaudière has been host to a vigil in honor of Norah and Romy Carpentier in the evening, Saturday.
Candles illuminated photographs of the young sisters and messages of sympathy have been placed near them.
