Who Killed Theresa?

Interactive Crime Scene Map for Theresa Allore, Manon Dube, and Louise Camirand

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:37:00 +0000

I have constructed an interactive crime scene map of the original cases in the Theresa Allore investigation. This map connects investigation specific photos of the cases of Theresa Allore, Manon Dube, and Louise Camirand with geographic locations on a Google map. This is the closest representation I can provide of Geographic Profiling of these cases.

To see the map you must go to my new website (I'm trying to drive traffic from here and get people accustomed to the new site).

In the coming days I will load further information about other rapes and sexual assaults in the region in that area as well as suspect locations. Hope this is helpful:

To see the map click here.

Worrying signs in Kingston canal murder case : Cancrime

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Worrying signs in Kingston canal murder case : Cancrime

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:02:00 +0000

Worrying signs in Kingston canal murder case : Cancrime

Serial Killer Clifford Olson = Theresa Allore

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:02:00 +0000

Here’s a bombshell for you: Clifford Olson made contact with me a few weeks ago claiming knowledge of Theresa’s death. Details of this bullshit to the first three of you that leave a comment.

Serial Killer Clifford Olson = Theresa Allore

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Here's a bombshell for you: Clifford Olson made contact with me a few weeks ago claiming knowledge of Theresa's death. Details of this bullshit to the first three of you that leave a comment.

Natasha Cournoyer - funeral next to dump site?

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:05:00 +0000

The family of Natasha Cournoyer today announced that her funeral would be held this weekend with the public being invited to express their condolences to the family at the Complexe Saint-François d'Assise, on Beaubien street in Montreal.

What's interesting is the choice of the church complex: it is a ten minute drive from where Cournoyer's body was found (click on the map):

View Larger Map

It would appear that the East End of Montreal was meaningful to the Cournoyer family. If that is true, then Natasha Cournoyer's killer probably had a close connection with the Cournoyer family.

Happy Birthday Theresa Allore

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Theresa would have turned 50 today. I have a hard time imagining that. I think I prefer remembering her at age 19.

I tried to find a new photo, but it's getting harder to come across this stuff. And frankly, I didn't want to go through the big box in the attic again.

I found these doodles made by Theresa from one of her school work books:

Can't really blame her for a wondering mind. The course was on Canadian history; who could possibly stay focused on The United Empire Loyalists.

This one is good:

You probably can't make it out, but it's Theresa practicing my mother's hand-writing to get out of class ("To Whom It May Concern, Theresa was sick... Mrs. Allore"). Then there are notes back-and-forth to other students:

"Mike Gregoire asked me to the annual ball"

"Last night he phoned"

"Ugly old bags who think they are tough" !!

"Noah died, Ben died, Somebody's father died"

Charles Toliver - Missing Since 2000

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:10:00 +0000

The case of Charles Toliver. Are police doing enough? Probably not. This is Tennessee:

CLINTON - It has been almost 10 years since Charles Lee Toliver - and nearly all of his belongings - disappeared.

Left behind is a trail of conflicting stories, a police report the family says is incorrect and a stack of mail returned to Toliver at an address that was not his from places his family says he never lived.

Toliver, 30, was flamboyant, hyperactive and a skilled spinner of tall tales, according to his family. His only income was a $512 per month disability check. His parents, Danny and Constance Toliver of Strawberry Plains, never learned what that disability was but suspect a mental or emotional illness, possibly bipolar disorder. He made choices that dismayed those who loved him. He had been in prison for theft.

"We never approved of some of the things Charlie did and said, but he was our son, and we loved him," Constance Toliver said. "With Charlie, you never knew what was going to happen next. He was a roller-coaster ride you couldn't get off of."

The ride ended abruptly with his disappearance in February 2000.

"This has destroyed our family," Danny Toliver said. "We don't do Christmas anymore. We don't do nothing. I'm at the point where I don't even like to talk about it any more. The only thing that keeps me going is making myself believe he is still alive."

When Charlie Toliver disappeared, his parents say, he was living with Edward J. McGimsey, then chief of the Anderson County Rescue Squad. Constance Toliver said that she accused McGimsey, face to face, of either harming her son or not telling all that he knows about the disappearance.

Today, McGimsey is 46, a retail store manager and a part-time News Sentinel employee. He initially agreed to a scheduled interview but later canceled.

"I discussed this with my family," he said. "They feel that under the circumstances, and with the way the Toliver family has been towards me as far as their false allegations, that I should not do the interview."

The Tolivers feel their son's disappearance was not taken as seriously as it should have been.

"Maybe that was because Charlie was gay, or maybe because he had been in prison, or maybe both," Constance Toliver said. "We're just glad that a new detective has finally been assigned to the case."

An ATM photo, a tattooed convict

Related document
A copy of the missing persons report on Charlie Toliver

About a month after Toliver vanished, someone used his ATM card in Calhoun, Ga., to withdraw exactly $300 from his SunTrust bank account, leaving another $200 untouched. His parents said they were shown a security camera picture of that transaction by the first detective assigned to the case. "The fellow using the card had his jacket pulled up over his head," Constance Toliver said.

ACSD declined to release the photograph to the News Sentinel. The News Sentinel requested a copy of the missing persons report, which is a public record. Only one page of a two-page report was provided.

Before meeting McGimsey, Toliver had lived in Knoxville with Ernie Lee Luhellier, then 35. Also known as Tony Luhellier, he was a heavily tattooed convicted rapist whom Toliver met in prison. He was released in August 1996, and later he and Toliver borrowed $17,000 from real estate agent Selina Overstreet to buy a house together at 1815 E. Glenwood Ave.in Knoxville.

Overstreet said Luhellier had a job and occasionally bought cars at auction and resold them, and that the pair got additional income by renting out a room in the Glenwood Avenue house.

Despite Toliver's small income, he and Luhellier also bought two houses on a single lot directly across the street. "They had big ideas about fixing up houses and selling them or renting them," Overstreet said, but nothing ever came of the plans.

Eventually, Luhellier moved into one of the houses across the street, where two women also appeared to be living. According to neighbors. McGimsey began regularly visiting Toliver at 1815 E. Glenwood. In 1999, Luhellier quitclaimed his interest in that house to Toliver, who sold it to McGimsey for $45,000.

By late 1999, Constance Toliver said, her son was living with McGimsey in Clinton.

On Jan. 5, 2000, when Charlie Toliver renewed his driver's license, he gave his address as 1822 Glenwood Ave. - the house that Luhellier owned and had moved into months earlier after he left 1815 E. Glenwood.

On Feb, 6, 2000, Constance Toliver said, Luhellier called and claimed that McGimsey and her son had been in a fight. "He said there were holes in the wall, and I think he said there was blood," she said. She and her husband drove to Clinton to check on their son and talk to McGimsey.

"There were no signs of a struggle, no blood, no holes in the wall," Constance Toliver said. "But there was no sign of Charlie, either. None of his clothes or his things were there, except his dog. He would never have left his dog behind."

When two weeks passed with no word from him, his parents filed a missing persons report. Constance Toliver said she and her husband were both distraught, and she was medicated, so it is possible that they made some incorrect statements or that the officer taking the report may not have understood everything they said.

The report states that Charlie Toliver had telephoned his father two days before the disappearance and said he was going to Atlanta. Constance Toliver says that her husband was out of town and had no cell phone.

The report lists her son's address as 278 Taylor Lane, Clinton. Property records show McGimsey bought that land in 1999. Records in the State Fire Marshal's Office show that a 1999 model Oakwood double-wide trailer owned by McGimsey at that address burned down in February 2001, from a fire of unknown origin.

Constance Toliver today is certain that her son's Clinton address was 155 Laurel Hollow Road.

The News Sentinel was unable to resolve the discrepancy between her recollections and the address on the police report.

Photo by Adam Brimer

Mail addressed to Charlie Toliver showing return to sender notifications. After Toliver disappeared in 2000, his family received returned mail addressed to him at places they say he never lived.
About this series
Each month the News Sentinel is highlighting the nature of missing-persons cases as well as specific disappearances through the decades in the East Tennessee area.

According to the missing persons report, Danny Toliver stated that McGimsey had told him there had been an argument between McGimsey and Charlie Toliver "about (their) relationship … (Charlie) was upset over believing that Mr. McGimsey was seeing someone else" and wanted to stay with friends in Atlanta.

According to the report, Danny Toliver states that McGimsey told him he dropped off Charlie Toliver at the first rest stop inside Georgia, where the Atlanta friends were to meet him. Charlie Toliver was believed to have had about $200 cash on him, according to the report.

What happened to Charlie?

Today, the Tolivers say McGimsey told them their son had met a man on the Internet and wanted to meet him in Georgia. Charlie Toliver's aunt, Mary Toliver, said McGimsey told her basically the same thing.

In an e-mail to Mary Toliver, McGimsey said: "I keep hoping every day that one of you will call me to tell me Charlie has called or come back, so we can all rest easier. I hope you believe me, Mary, when I say I didn't, and wouldn't, do anything to hurt Charlie. I hope he's OK and I really wish he would hurry up and call somebody or get back. Regarding the prayer e-mail, I'm praying for him to be all right and to come back soon. You do the same, OK?"

About a month or two after the disappearance, Luhellier brought the Tolivers a stack of their son's mail. Some was addressed to Charlie Toliver at Luhellier's house address. Other envelopes were return mail, bearing yellow address-forwarding labels to places where he never lived, according to Constance Toliver.

Postal Service officials to whom the News Sentinel showed those envelopes said that in 2000, no such label would have been printed without someone filling out - and signing - a form. Those forms were kept on file for a couple of years and then destroyed.

Two of the addresses were in towns in Tennessee and Missouri where Luhellier is believed to have previously lived. One of those addresses, in Hayti, Mo., is also on Charlie Toliver's bank statement.

The News Sentinel was unable to locate Luhellier. On Aug. 13, he was released from a Missouri prison after serving seven years for statutory sodomy and burglary. He was to return to Tennessee and register as a sex offender, but he has not registered here or anywhere, Missouri authorities say. They do not know his whereabouts and have asked U.S. Marshals to investigate further.

The Tolivers live in a dark limbo of uncertainty about their son's fate. They feel confident that Kenny Bradley, a new detective recently assigned to the case, will press the investigation. But they also worry that too much time has passed for the case to be solved.

"Everything goes away with time. Lots of evidence could be lost by now," Danny Toliver said.

Constance Toliver is plagued by unrelenting sadness, nightmares, sleepless nights - and a terrible fear of something even worse.

"I am afraid that we are going to die without knowing what happened to Charlie," she said.

Anyone with any information about the case may call Detective Bradley at 865-457-6255.

Jim Balloch may be reached at 865-342-6315.

Mariam Machniashvili Missing

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:29:00 +0000

How does a 17-year-old go missing from Yonge and Eglington? I used to live at Yonge and Eglington - it was one of the safest areas in Toronto: have things changed that much? Sure, there was the case of Allison Parrott in the 80s who disappeared and was murdered near Summerhill, but this is too much.

Police follow up leads in missing teen case

Updated: Sat Oct. 10 2009 9:03:44 PM

Dozens of Toronto police officers looking for clues in the case of a missing 17-year-old girl scoured the Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue area a day after her schoolbag was found nearby.

While the family of Mariam Machniashvili remains hopeful their daughter will return home, police say that the bag's discovery doesn't point to foul play in the case.

Mariam was last seen walking to her midtown neighbourhood school with her brother on September 14.

Police have now established a command post close to where the bag was found.

On Friday, Mariam's father said that the discovery of the bag was a "step forward" in the case.

"I also try to not make any bad conclusions yet, because it doesn't mean we can make conclusions about her not being alive," Vakhtang Makhniashvili said on Friday, speaking to reporters outside his apartment on Shallmar Boulevard.

He continues to believe that his daughter, who will turn 18 on October 27, was kidnapped last month.

His wife, Lela Tabidze, also welcomed the discovery, but added that it was difficult to stay positive.

"Lots of thoughts are coming right now, but I don't think it's relevant to talk about it right now," she said.

"We want to see our daughter -- the faces we see of cheerful children, we want to see her among them," and asked people to come forward if they know anything.

The backpack, which was filled with school books, was found by a local resident on Thursday afternoon behind an apartment building at 120 Eglinton Avenue East. The passerby spotted the bag on an air vent in the building's parking lot.

Inside, some of the books were inscribed with Mariam's name.

The building is about two kilometres from Forest Hill Collegiate, the school where Mariam was last seen.

Police say that the bag is the first "tangible" piece of evidence they have found so far in the case.

Pierre Hugues Boisvenu pressures Liberal Government

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:35:00 +0000

AFPAD is still advocating for the Liberal Government to create a special police unit to match missing persons with unidentified human remains. Despite a very successful model currently in existence in Ontario, Quebec' Minister of Public Security, Jacques Dupuis is reluctant to allocate additional resources. It should be noted that a similar national program in the United States is just underway with only part of the data base having been built. Namus.gov is Federal initiative to link remains with missing persons; it is an ambitious project given the vast tasks of linking thousands and thousands of police agencies in the United States.

If you scroll to the bottom of this article you will see precisely the problem with Quebec, it is the same problem that has been facing Quebec law enforcement for decades: miscommunication and fragment-ism:

Personnes disparues: une brigade ontarienne en modèle
Brigade spéciale : Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu répète sa demande

Marc Allard, Le Soleil

(Québec) La brigade spéciale consacrée à la recherche des personnes disparues réclamée depuis plusieurs mois au Québec par Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu existe ailleurs et elle ne se trouve pas bien loin : en Ontario.

En mai 2006, la police provinciale de l'Ontario (OPP) a mis sur pied une brigade appelée l'Unité des personnes disparues et des corps non identifiés (Missing Persons and Unidentified Bodies Unit). Cette unité emploie maintenant trois enquêteurs à plein temps qui s'occupent aussi de gérer une base de données accessible au public où sont publiées les photos des disparus et des corps non identifiés.

En quatre ans, cette unité a permis d'élucider 41 cas de disparitions suspectes et de faire passer le taux de résolution de 20 à 30 %, selon les statistiques que nous a fournies Don Reid, un des membres de l'Unité. Au Québec, le taux de résolution des cas de disparitions suspectes serait en baisse depuis cinq ans et ne dépasserait pas 15 %, selon M. Boisvenu, président de l'Association des Familles de Personnes Assassinées ou Disparues du Québec (AFPAD).

L'avantage de l'Unité, «c'est vraiment de maintenir la constance à travers le temps dans les enquêtes, explique M. Reid. Souvent, quand le temps passe et que les cas ne sont pas résolus, les affectations des policiers vont changer. Nous, on maintient la banque de données, peu importe qui prend les enquêtes en charge. Il y a toujours une vue d'ensemble et on s'assure que les dossiers soient consultés régulièrement.»

En avril, les parents de Marilyn Bergeron, qui sont sans nouvelles de leur fille depuis sa disparition le 17 février 2008, à Saint-Romuald, ont remis à l'Assemblée nationale une pétition de 4600 noms exhortant le ministre de la Sécurité publique, Jacques Dupuis, de former une escouade qui pourrait se consacrer à plein temps aux cas de disparitions suspectes. Le ministre a refusé cette demande, expliquant qu'il favorisait la formation et enverrait deux agents pour étudier dans un centre spécialisé en recherche de personnes disparues.

Depuis, le président de l'Association des familles des personnes assassinées (AFPAD), Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, persiste avec cette demande. Mais le ministre Dupuis n'a toujours pas l'intention de changer d'idée, a indiqué cette semaine au Soleil Mario Vaillancourt, le porte-parole du ministère de la Sécurité publique.

«On pense que les quelque 14 000 policiers qui sont sur le terrain à travers le Québec peuvent réagir plus rapidement sur le terrain qu'une escouade qui serait basée à un endroit précis comme Montréal ou Québec, par exemple», explique M. Vaillancourt.

Selon M. Boisvenu, la création d'une brigade spécialisée n'empêcherait pas les 14 000 policiers québécois de faire leur travail, mais permettrait d'assurer un meilleur suivi des dossiers, comme en Ontario. Si une escouade mixte a fonctionné pour lutter contre les gangs de rue et le trafic de drogue, pourquoi n'en créerait-on pas une pour les personnes disparues, fait-il valoir.

Expertise

Grâce à ces escouades, «il y a une compétence qui se développe, explique M. Boisvenu. On a fait en sorte que les gens ne travaillent que là-dessus pour que leur concentration et leurs compétences soient optimales».

Le président de l'AFPAD déplore aussi que, contrairement à l'Ontario, il n'existe pas au Québec de «fichier unifié» accessible au public. Ici, chaque corps policier affiche sur son site Internet seulement les photos et les descriptions des personnes disparues sur son territoire.

«Le problème, soutient M. Boisvenu, c'est qu'une disparition n'a pas de barrière géographique. Prenez le cas de Marilyn Bergeron : elle reste à Montréal, elle disparaît à Québec, la photo est dans la ville de Québec, mais elle n'est pas affichée à la police de Montréal, ni à la SQ. Où est rendue Marilyn? Personne ne le sait. Si quelqu'un la voit en Abitibi, la personne, il va falloir qu'elle fasse six, sept réseaux de police pour aller voir si c'est bien la fille qu'elle a vue.»

Vito Spano addresses Cold Case Conference

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:45:00 +0000

The former head of New York City's cold case squad, Vito Spano addressed a Vicitms conference in Colorado yesterday. "You should always be an activist" says Spano: I don't know if that's uplifting or depressing. The last time I met with police officials for Theresa's case was a year ago. Pierre Boisvenu came with me to meet the SQ. When the meeting was over Pierre said to me, "you need to come back every year" and my heart sunk.

I can tell you that doing this and maintaining normal, stable relationships is very difficult because it encourages isolation and compartmentalization. It's different for Pierre. His case has gone to trial, the offender is incarcerated. Yes, in 10-years he will have the parole board to deal with, but for now he gets tremendous satisfaction from helping others.

That's not true with cold-cases. You're going back and looking at these old facts. I looked at a picture of Louise Camirand the other night; it ruined my evening. Very difficult to keep vigil under these circumstances.

Gotta go, my daughter wants me to read her Santa's Ark. Here's the article:

DENVER AND THE WEST
Cold-case expert urges victims' families to be vocal advocates
N.Y. expert urges conference attendees to be vocal advocates
By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post

The former head of New York City's cold-case squad urged families of murdered and missing loved ones to be vocal advocates of their families.

"You should always be the activist," said Vito Spano, the former commander of the New York City cold-case unit. If they do so, the chances improve that their family member's case will get a better look.

Spano spoke in Denver on Saturday at a conference of Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons attended by more than 300 members including those who flew in from Texas, Illinois and Tennessee.

Spano, who now works for the New York attorney general's office, supervised investigations between 2001 and 2004 of dozens of killers, including mobsters brought to justice

(XX)101009_victims_CFW- Keynote speaker Vito Spano, former head of New York City's cold case squad, address a conference of Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver, CO. (THE DENVER POST | CRAIG F. WALKER)
sometimes decades after murders.
Spano said family members can make suggestions to detectives in a diplomatic way about submitting evidence for specific tests using modern technology.

At the Saturday conference, family members of victims met with police, including cold-case detectives and Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman, about specific cases in a session from which the media was excluded.

The Colorado victims group started with 11 members in 2001 and now has 750 members, spokeswoman Stefanie Clarke said.

Colorado State University officials also presented their findings Saturday of a study called "Forgotten Victims: What Cold Case Families Want from Law Enforcement."

CSU researchers looked at the experiences of 36 family members of victims of homicide from 10 different parts of the state.

In Colorado, the number of unsolved homicides since 1970 has grown to 1,487 and continues to rise as the rate of cases solved has dropped from 91 percent in 1963 to 61 percent in 2007. A homicide becomes a cold case by definition in Colorado after it is unsolved one year after the murder.

Prabha Unnithan, director of the Center for the Study of Crime and Justice, said it used to be that most homicides were committed by people close to the victim, such as a spouse, a business partner or a friend. After committing murder, many of them would confess. Now the connections between killer and victim are less concrete, and difficult to establish, he said.

Former CSU Professor Paul Stretesky, who led the nine-month study, said communication with family members of victims can improve the chances that a case will be solved.

Victims often believed police stopped investigating because of limited resources and many believed their race and age and criminal background affected aggressiveness of officers in solving the cases.

In numerous cases detectives or prosecutors told victims they knew who killed their loved one but couldn't prove it.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com

Police stay quiet on Natasha Cournoyer Investigation

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:44:00 +0000

No new news on the death of Natasha Cournoyer. La Jounal de Montreal reports that the Surete du Quebec are clamping down on information on the case, yesterday refusing to release any information to the public. The Laval police did report that several pieces of personal items belonging to Cournoyer have been recovered including her photo Id, and some papers belonging to her (along Route 19). Police are still looking for her purse, shoes and cell phone.

Les policiers discrets sur leurs trouvailles

Après tout le battage médiatique des derniers jours, les policiers se sont faits des plus discrets, hier, concernant l'enquête sur la mort tragique de Natasha Cournoyer.

La police de Montréal n'a fait aucun commentaire sur son enquête. Celle de Laval s'est faite avare de commentaires sur les effets retrouvés en bordure de l'autoroute 19. La famille est demeurée muette, elle aussi.

À Laval, les recherches se sont poursuivies aux abords de l'autoroute 19, au nord du pont Papineau, dans le secteur où un dernier signal du téléphone cellulaire de la victime a été capté, le lendemain de sa disparition.

Des informations non confirmées veulent qu'une carte d'identité avec photo, appartenant à Mme Cournoyer et lui permettant l'accès à son lieu de travail, ait été retrouvée. Un papier lui appartenant aurait aussi été récupéré.

«Plusieurs objets ont été trouvés depuis mardi, dont un important. Il va falloir que l'on confirme si ça appartient à la victime», explique Nathalie Lorrain, de la police de Laval.

Les policiers ont poursuivi dans cette veine dans l'espoir de trouver davantage d'indices, comme un sac à main ou un cellulaire, par exemple.

L'un des deux cols bleus présents lors de la découverte du corps aurait aperçu un véhicule suspect qui aurait rôdé sur les lieux, dans les heures précédant la macabre découverte, mardi.

Le véhicule aurait effectivement reculé juste devant le bosquet et le buisson où ils ont trouvé le cadavre de la femme, a annoncé le réseau TVA en fin de journée.

Fleurs, croix et lampions

Par ailleurs, le Service correctionnel du Canada, l'employeur de Mme Cournoyer, a tenu un point de presse hier matin, au cours duquel la sous-commissaire pour la région du Québec, Johanne Vallée, a nié que la disparue avait eu des contacts avec des détenus.

Elle a rappelé que Natasha Cournoyer était toujours escortée et portait une carte d'identité de visiteur lorsqu'elle avait à se rendre dans un pénitencier.

Les dernières activités organisées par Mme Cournoyer étaient de nature protocolaire et ne concernaient pas les détenus.

Tant sur les lieux de la découverte de son corps, à Pointe-aux-Trembles, que dans le stationnement où elle a été vue pour la der nière fois, fleurs, croix, lampions et petits mots de réconfort ont été déposés, en mémoire de la disparue.

En soirée, hier, les policiers ont été présents à la Place Laval, dans l'espoir de rencontrer des gens qui n'ont affaire là que le jeudi soir.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:09:00 +0000

Here is a photo from Thanksgiving 31-years-ago:

This was taken three week's before Theresa died. The media often use this photo, and confuse it; that is not me sitting next to Theresa, but my brother, Andre.

A few things catch me attention in this photo. I took the picture. I can tell because my dinner is sitting to the bottom, left. My father's place is empty, which means he was in the kitchen with my mother (always serve the children first). I know it's Thanksgiving because not only is there white wine, it is served in our best crystal (however I also appear to have a glass of milk). In Patricia Pearson's piece, Who Killed Theresa? she mentions an incident that happened later, after Theresa had disappeared; a piece of plaster fell from a spot in the ceiling in the shape of a heart. That spot is just above Andre's right shoulder (photo left). I still have that plaster, preserved by my mother and given to me when they sold the house. The following morning my brother and sister would board a train back to college, from Saint John to Sherbrooke, Quebec, and that was the last I ever saw of Theresa Allore.

Yes, all this is gone now. The house was sold last year. Frankly it's getting harder for me to remember any of this. Little pieces are fading, and all that is left is a distant flash of brilliant white light.

Natasha Cournoyer: Police Focus on Surveillance Cameras

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:50:00 +0000

If you want to follow the Natasha Cournoyer case you have to read the French newspapers. Paul Cherry in The Gazette is very good, but he's about a day late on any new leads and information.

Police found her ID card along the side of autoroute 19, right around the area where a call was tracked to her cell phone. Police are now asking Transport officials for permission to access surveillance cameras along the highway system in hopes that that will provide some information. If you follow the route it is somewhat logical that they are focusing on a path South on Route 15 toward Montreal then across the 440 (the Laval expressway that bisects the island at Le Carefour). Then South again on Route 19. You can cross Laval from here into Montreal (toward to where her body was found), but that is not a typical path to follow:

Hugo Meunier et Catherine Handfield
La Presse

L'enquête sur le meurtre de Natasha Cournoyer a progressé, hier. Une carte d'identité de la victime a été découverte en bordure de l'autoroute 19, à Laval. Le ministère des Transports du Québec a fourni à la police des enregistrements vidéo captés à cet endroit, a appris La Presse.

La police de Laval a trouvé cette carte mercredi après-midi, près de l'intersection de l'autoroute 19 et du boulevard de la Concorde. Le corps de Natasha Cournoyer, 37 ans, a été découvert mardi à 22 km de là, à Pointe-aux-Trembles, dans l'est de Montréal.

Selon nos sources, il s'agit de la carte d'employée de Natasha Cournoyer, qui travaillait au Service correctionnel du Canada, à Laval. Les policiers ont également trouvé un papier qui lui appartenait.

La police de Montréal, qui enquête sur le meurtre, a demandé au ministère des Transports de lui fournir les images captées par les caméras de surveillance sur l'autoroute 19, a confirmé Mario St-Pierre, porte-parole du Ministère. Les enquêteurs espèrent découvrir comment la carte s'est retrouvée à cet endroit. Il est notamment possible qu'elle ait été lancée par la fenêtre d'une voiture.

Le SPVM n'a pas voulu préciser hier soir si le visionnement avait été concluant. «Nous ne ferons plus de commentaire sur cette enquête jusqu'à ce qu'il y ait une avancée majeure», a dit le porte-parole, Daniel Lacoursière.

Selon nos sources, la police vérifie scrupuleusement tous les renseignements qu'elle reçoit, dont plusieurs sont crédibles. Un col bleu de Montréal aurait notamment aperçu un petit camion avec deux occupants dans le secteur de Pointe-aux-Trembles quelques heures avant la découverte du corps, mardi.

Par ailleurs, les pathologistes ont procédé hier à d'autres examens sur le corps de la victime. Il faudra attendre plusieurs jours avant de savoir si elle a été violée. «À première vue, ça ne semble pas être le cas puisqu'elle était habillée quand elle a été trouvée», nous a dit une source policière.

Le corps ne porterait pas d'autres marques de violence que celles au cou, vraisemblablement causées par la strangulation. La thèse voulant qu'elle ait été agressée par une connaissance demeure en tête de liste, selon nos sources.

Fouilles à Duvernay

La police a découvert la carte d'employée de Natasha Cournoyer dans le cadre de recherches intensives menées dans le quartier Duvernay, à Laval. Les abords des autoroutes et un important secteur résidentiel ont été ratissés, hier.

La police de Laval a entrepris ces fouilles après avoir appris que le téléphone cellulaire de la victime aurait été utilisé au lendemain de la disparition. Une tour du secteur Pont-Viau aurait capté un signal qui en provenait.

Les policiers sont toujours à la recherche du cellulaire, des chaussures, du sac à main et du manteau de la victime.

La police de Laval a tenté hier de reconstituer les événements qui se sont produits le soir de la disparition de Natasha Cournoyer, le jeudi 1er octobre. Un poste de commandement a été érigé entre 16h et 22h dans le stationnement de la Place Laval, le dernier endroit où Mme Cournoyer a été aperçue vivante. Les policiers espéraient ainsi rencontrer de nouveaux témoins.

La supérieure de Natasha Cournoyer, Johanne Vallée, ne croit toujours pas que le meurtre soit lié aux activités professionnelles de la victime.

«C'était une agente de communications à l'interne, elle écrivait par exemple mes discours. Elle a pu aller dans des établissements de détention à titre de visiteuse, mais ses dernières activités ne touchaient pas les détenus», a assuré Mme Vallée, hier, au cours d'un point de presse devant la Place Laval.

À l'arrière du stationnement, une croix a été érigée et des fleurs ont été déposées à la mémoire de Mme Cournoyer.

Natasha Cournoyer's Body Found

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:43:00 +0000

Police confirmed the body found in Montreal's East End is that of missing Corrections Canada worker, Natasha Cournoyer. Given that this is still a very young case I will only say this:

1. Given all the unnecessary attention they receive stranger-homicides are in fact quite rare statistically.

2. Cournoyer's boyfriend Michel Trottier appears to be cracking under the pressure. He's got his face all over the news. He's gone on national television to tell the world he's ready for his polygraph test (no one has asked him to take one). He's professed his "love" for Cournoyer in late-night, incoherent rambles on Facebook. The impulsive actions of a grieving lover? Maybe.

But sometimes people can get so clever that they out-smart themselves. And guilt is a monster: you wait for the shadow of suspicion to pass your house. Sometime you get impatient. In your haste to control the situation you unintentionally point the finger at yourself.

As much as I enjoy making fun of Quebec Police this is one case I believe they have firmly in hand. They are well trained in psychology. They will be very patient, and will close the circle very slowly... on their terms.

Here's the story from Quebec's leading Fish Paper, Le Journal de Montreal:

"Alors que les autorités confirmaient hier que Natasha Cournoyer était bien celle dont le corps assassiné a été trouvé en bordure du fleuve mardi, les policiers de Laval redoublaient d'ardeur dans l'espoir de retrouver son téléphone cellulaire, dont un signal a été capté, une quinzaine d'heures après sa disparition.

Au cours des fouilles qui sont menées de-puis deux jours autour du boulevard de la Concorde, à Laval, par des policiers et des membres de l'unité des mesures d'urgence, au moins un appareil cellulaire a été retrouvé.

Après analyse, il s'est avéré qu'il ne s'agissait malheureusement pas de celui de Natasha Cournoyer.

Les policiers supposent que si la victime a été amenée à Pointe-aux-Trembles, quelque chose a pu survenir à Laval pour que son cellulaire tombe ou soit abandonné. Un signal provenant de ce dernier a été capté vendredi matin par une tour du boulevard du secteur Pont-Viau.

Les autorités fouillent des cours arrière, des boisés, des berges. La toiture d'un immeuble a même été fouillée, avec l'aide d'un camion de pompiers pour y accéder.

Recherches pertinentes

«Ces recherches sont toujours pertinentes dans l'enquête», a dit le lieutenant Daniel Guérin, de la police de Laval.

En retrouvant le cellulaire de la victime, peut-être les policiers retrouveront-ils aussi son sac à main ou même une scène où le crime a peut-être été commis. Rappelons qu'il y a 26 kilomètres qui séparent le lieu de l'enlèvement présumé de la victime et le lieu de la découverte du corps.

Ce ratissage serré se poursuivra aujourd'hui. De plus, vers 20 heures ce soir, les policiers, tant de Laval que de Montréal, devraient rencontrer des employés des Places Laval.

Hier, plus de 24 heures après la découverte du corps de la femme, le Bureau du coroner et la police de Montréal ont confirmé son identité, vers 16 heures.

L'autopsie pratiquée hier a nécessité de nombreuses heures de travail puisque «chaque item devait être photographié, identifié, emballé et étiqueté», a précisé la porte-parole du Bureau du coroner Geneviève Guilbault.

La cause du décès n'a toutefois pas été précisée.

Facebook

Natasha Cournoyer avait été vue pour la dernière fois peu après 20 h jeudi dernier, alors qu'elle sortait de son travail au Service correctionnel du Canada, à Laval.

Le conjoint de Natasha Cournoyer, Michel Trottier, avait quant à lui annoncé mardi soir sur sa page Facebook le décès de son amoureuse.

«Je tente de comprendre comment on a pu t'enlever ce que nous avons de si précieux, soit la vie. (...) Prendre la vie d'une aussi jolie femme avec tant de violence, quelle lâcheté, quelle façon ignoble de vivre», écrit M. Trottier.

Quant à la mère de la victime, Louise Morel, le drame est doublement douloureux pour elle: après avoir perdu son mari il y a à peine six mois, voilà qu'elle perd son unique fille.

Body in Pointe aux Trembles; Natasha Cournoyer was last seen near Laval office parking lot Thursday night

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:43:00 +0000

They think they found the body of Natasha Cournoyer. She disappeared off the island of Montreal and the body was found in Montreal's East End. Michèle Ouimet who writes for La Presse and is always good has a good story on Cournoyer.

"Major crimes investigators believe a woman's body found Tuesday next to a dirt road in Pointe aux Trembles is that of Natasha Cournoyer, a Laval resident who disappeared Thursday, three police sources familiar with the investigation said yesterday.

As of early this morning, investigators had not been able to confirm the victim's identity. Laval police, who are probing Cournoyer's disappearance, were called in to assist.

One person who could help identify Cournoyer, 37, was brought to the scene shortly after the body was discovered, just before noon yesterday.

"Investigators from Laval are here. Why? It is a possibility it is the woman from Laval. But that can't be confirmed until we identify the body," Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux said.

"They were called here to help (supply) our investigators with a good description. If it is (Cournoyer), they will assist and we'll do the investigation together."

Lemieux said a doctor with Urgences Santé declared the woman dead at the scene.

City of Montreal employees on a break found the body, a police officer familiar with the investigation said. A red city van could be seen parked less than seven metres from the crime scene, which was just off an unpaved road leading to a boat launch on the shore of the St. Lawrence River, in a brush-covered area near the intersection of Notre Dame St. E. and 36th Ave.

The dirt road is frequently used by drug dealers and stolen cars are often abandoned there, said a nearby resident, who spoke on the condition that his name would not be published.

The man said he has twice witnessed someone practising their aim by firing a handgun last winter.

"It's like hell, a real garbage dump. I'm not surprised at all that a dead body was found there," he said.

Cournoyer, an employee with Correctional Service of Canada, was last seen about 8 p.m. Thursday as she left Place Laval, the office building where she worked.

Surveillance cameras recorded her heading for the parking lot next to the building, on St. Martin Blvd. E., at the corner of des Laurentides Blvd. Her car was found parked at the far end of the lot Friday.

According to her boyfriend, Michel Trottier, 32, Cournoyer split her time between a home in Piedmont and an apartment they shared in Old Montreal.

Trottier said he believed Cournoyer was abducted Thursday night. He said the last time he spoke to her was at 5 p.m. Thursday; she said she was planning to work late.

Cournoyer was supposed to meet her mother in Anjou on Friday but never showed up.

While Laval police searched for Cournoyer this week, they said they did not believe her disappearance was related to her work.

Laval police Constable Natalie Lorrain said yesterday evening they had yet to receive confirmation that the body found in Pointe aux Trembles is Cournoyer's.

Investigators would continue to search a part of Laval where Cournoyer's cellphone was used after she vanished, Lorrain said.

Identification of the body is expected to be done today in an autopsy, Montreal police Constable Olivier Lapointe said. He also confirmed police were treating the death as a homicide, the city's 24th of the year."

pcherry@thegazette.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Quebec Police Defend Use Of Tasers

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:49:00 +0000

In this demonstration Officer Lachance practices on his groin region:

Frédéric Denoncourt
Le Soleil

(Québec) Malgré l'émoi suscité, le recours au pistolet Taser à l'endroit d'un homme atteint de trisomie 21 était «la meilleure option dans le contexte», soutient la police de Québec.

Quand, au mois d'août, les policiers ont reçu un appel d'urgence des intervenants du Centre de réadaptation en déficience intellectuelle de Québec (CRDI), la situation était hors contrôle, stipule Gino Lévesque, capitaine à la section des communications du Service de police de Québec. «Les intervenants sur place n'étaient plus en mesure de reprendre le contrôle. Compte tenu de l'état de violence de l'individu, l'utilisation de cette arme intermédiaire était la meilleure option.»

Dans le passé, les policiers ont dû intervenir à de nombreuses reprises pour maîtriser l'homme de 43 ans. «Il a un historique de violence assez grave. Certains éléments de son dossier font en sorte qu'on ne peut en dévoiler plus.»

Lors des autres interventions, les agents parvenaient à maîtriser l'individu, parfois simplement par la parole. En août, la situation était différente. «Le pistolet à impulsion a été nécessaire pour éviter des blessures à l'individu, aux autres bénéficiaires, aux intervenants et aux policiers.»

C'était la première fois que les policiers avaient recours à l'arme à impulsion électrique contre cet homme. Combien de décharges a-t-il reçu? «Je n'ai pas l'information sous la main.»

M. Lévesque affirme que chaque utilisation du pistolet Taser par des policiers fait l'objet d'un rapport par des officiers afin de s'assurer de son bon emploi. «Nous avons rencontré les parents de l'homme pour répondre à leurs questionnements», continue

M. Lévesque, qui ajoute que ces derniers se sont montrés satisfaits des réponses de la police.

«La police fait aussi partie de la Table de concertation et d'adaptation du système judiciaire aux personnes souffrant de déficience intellectuelle. Une rencontre est prévue avec eux [les autres membres de la Table] pour leur expliquer les façons d'intervenir des policiers», ajoute M. Lévesque.

SQ chopper hunts for missing Piedmont woman,Natasha Cournoyer

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:59:00 +0000

Oh great, having not found the plane or the yellow helicopter, the Surete du Quebec has again taken to skies to locate an even smaller object.

Ok, quick review...

This is an airplane:

And this is a helicopter:

And finally this would be a woman (much smaller):

Officer nailed for using Police database on behalf of Hells Angels' Dad

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:34:00 +0000

Citoyens Quebec, chantons nous!

"It's a Small World After All,

It's A Small World After All

It's a Small World After All,
It's A Small World After All"

Montreal police officer charged with unlawful access to database

BY PAUL CHERRY, GAZETTE CRIME REPORTEROCTOBER 1, 2009 2:41 PM

MONTREAL – A criminal charge has been filed against another Montreal police officer accused of accessing a computer database for the wrong reasons.

According to court records, Nancy Lauzon, 30, faces one count of fraudulent concealment. The alleged offence occurred on Oct. 12, 2007. A warrant for Lauzon's arrest was filed at the Montreal courthouse last week. Police sources said Lauzon was arrested and released on conditions and after she agreed to appear in court at a later date that has yet to be determined.

According to a published report, Lauzon was investigated after she accessed the Centre de renseignements policiers du Québec, a provincial database connecting various sources of information. She is alleged to have accessed the database on the request of her father, 68-year-old Fernand Lauzon, a man who was arrested earlier this year in Operation Axe, a police roundup of people who dealt drugs for the Hells Angels.

Fernand Lauzon faces charges of conspiracy, drug trafficking and committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal organization. He is alleged to have been part of a group that dealt drugs out of the Verdun borough from Aug. 1, 2007, up until the arrests in Operation Axe were made in February.

Chief Inspector Paul Chablo, head of the Montreal police media relations division, confirmed that a member of the police force was arrested. He said the person has been restricted to administrative duties but he declined to confirm her identity because Lauzon has yet to appear in court.

Chablo did say however that the most recent case is not related to one involving a major crimes investigator who was arrested on Sept. 21.

Mario Lambert, 42, faces two counts of fraudulent concealment. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 13.

Nancy Cedeno headed for suspended sentence

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Ahhh the RCMP: only the FBI has less credibility. Then again you wonder why law enforcement even bothers when everything gets tossed:

Former border agent convicted of taking bribes

Aided drug mules at airport; She faces 14 years in prison despite being acquitted of seven other charges

The smile on Nancy Cedeno's face was that of someone who realized things could have turned out a lot worse, despite having just been convicted of accepting bribes.

The former Canada Border Services agent sported a smile that stretched from ear to ear as she left a Montreal courtroom yesterday, after hearing the verdict in a trial where she was accused of having helped drug smugglers, alleged to be tied to the Montreal Mafia, sneak cocaine through Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

Quebec Court Judge Claude Millette convicted Cedeno of accepting bribes but acquitted her on seven other charges, including allegations that she took part in a conspiracy or committed a crime for the benefit of a criminal organization. A conviction on the latter charge could have extended her sentence for accepting bribes.

She now faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 14 years, but Cedeno, 34, now hopes to avoid that entirely.

Sentencing arguments are scheduled for February.

Prosecutor Alexandre Dalmau said it was too early to speculate on what sentence he will seek.

Cedeno's lawyer, Robert Bellefeuille, said he will ask for a suspended sentence.

After Millette rendered his verdict, Dalmau acknowledged that during Project Colisée, a police investigation into the Montreal Mafia, the RCMP only had evidence that Cedeno collaborated with Omar Riahi, 33, a former Border Services agent, while he helped two smugglers import cocaine through the airport. The smugglers used drug mules who carried several kilograms of cocaine in luggage off flights from the Caribbean.

Cedeno let Riahi have access to her Border Services-issue stamp, which would allow the drug couriers to switch their customs declaration form to a prestamped and coded one that would get them through the airport without being searched.

Riahi pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy, corruption and two counts of committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal organization. He worked as a customs agent in 2003 and 2004 and was posted in Halifax as a military police officer while he helped smuggle cocaine. Sentencing arguments in Riahi's case are to begin Oct. 28.

In his verdict, Millette determined Cedeno only knew Riahi and that he had at least one partner. The judge concluded there was no evidence Cedeno knew of the existence of a criminal group beyond those two men, and so could not find her guilty of acting for the benefit of a criminal organization, which requires knowledge of at least three people.

Wiretap evidence showed Cedeno was paid at least $500 each time she helped Riahi.

Millette also delivered verdicts involving two other people used by the drug smugglers. Julie Châteauneuf Fleury, 27, pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle 28 kilograms of cocaine through the airport but she contested a charge that she did so for a criminal organization; Millette acquitted her of that count.

Jean Marie Fritz Balmir, 39, was convicted of conspiracy and committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal organization.

pcherry@thegazette.canwest.com

La Règle du jeu - Olympics 2016

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:21:00 +0000

A word to Chicago concerning your Olympic bid:

Don't do it.

Take it from a city that has been there. Montreal suffered the one-two punch of the World's Fair (1967) and Summer Games (1976) AND NEVER RECOVERED. The Olympic Stadium (dubbed "The Big Owe") was a multi-million boondoggle. Initial estimates put the cost at $134 million. In 2006 the final term installment on the debt was paid off. Total cost? $1.61 billion. (Ahh but the chance to see your crappy Canadian athletes "go for the bronze"? Priceless.

A city should only showcase itself if it has solved the majority of its problems and is ready to be a model to the world. Lest we forget, for the World's Fair Montreal massive billboards and partitions were erected to block out the urban blight, thus disenfranchising the poor working class Quebecois from all that world class (tabarnouche!).

Chicago? Have you solved your problems?

"Hey Gina... un castor, ben ouais"

Besides, the Olympics are for cities that have sort-off arrived and are waiting for an invite to the dance (think Atlanta, Utah... and Calgary). Chicago? I think you've arrived. How much more tourism do you really need? Your infrastructure can barely hold up under the weight of your bloating current populous.

And your citizens will be paying for the upgrades for the rest of their lives through tax increases. President Obama I'm all for giving an economy a shot in the arm but not on the backs of the struggling working class.

Mr. President please give your state a break and sit this one out. Let Brazil be the world showcase. Lord knows they've solved all their problems.

Et j''te dis, Rene "a la prochaine fois!"

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:49:00 +0000

When I was a kid we had two posters hanging in our rec-room: one was JFK, the other Pierre Trudeau. It should have been Trudeau and Levesque.

Growing up as a kid Levesque terrified me. I was certain he was aiming for the destruction of me and my family. He was small. He was ugly. He chain-smoked. He spoke the worst Quebecois joual.

I was wrong.

I feel a strange fraternity with Rene. It started on a visit to Quebec City two years ago where I was compelled to visit the Assemble Nationale. By accident I stubbled upon his statue at the front of the building. Then I discovered we had a kinship (Rene est une Acadie comme moi; il est ne a Cambelton et mes famillies sont de Bathurst au Nouveau Brunswick).

But there are other things. I remember I was quite upset when they changed the name of rue Dorchester in Montreal to Blvd. Rene Levesque. This was the street where my sister and I would arrive on visits to Montreal by the train station (who were these Patriotes to change that name?). Later I thought, but who-the-hell was Dorchester?

If you don't know Rene Levesque, you need to Google him: A founder of Cite Libre with Trudeau, Gérard Pelletier, and Pierre Vallières... great Quebec thinkers. A man of passion and precision; a Separatists, but of non-violent means.

It is strange. I have felt lately a reckoning with Quebec coming on. Some sort of understanding. Because I grew up English there, without any understanding of the culture. And now I must pay that price. I have expressed this sometimes as a "Stockholm Syndrome": a great guilt for my lack of understanding.

Perhaps.

I have a great dream. In the dream I return to Quebec after many years. And all my sins are forgiven.

Cedrika Provencher - Le Pire

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:07:00 +0000

Alors, maintenant nous comprenons tous... La famille de Cedrika lance une demande depuis le 16 septembre, mais les media Anglais "play-catchup". Bravo Gazette!:

mercredi 16 septembre 2009

Le grand-père de Cédrika Provencher lance un cri du coeur

Le grand père de Cédrika Provencher, cette fillette disparue depuis plus de deux ans, a lancé un cri du coeur à la population ce mercredi.

Lors d'une entrevue accordée au réseau TVA, Henri Provencher a en effet demandé à toute personne ayant de l'information sur ce dossier de rejoindre la ligne téléphonique dédiée à la disparition de sa petite-fille. Cette ligne sera encore active pour deux semaines seulement.

En juin dernier, l'avocat Guy Bertrand a confirmé qu'il agit comme procureur indépendant afin de recueillir des informations qui permettront de retrouver la petite Cédrika, disparue le 31 juillet 2007 à l'âge de neuf ans. L'avocat bien connu offre 170 000 dollars à la personne qui pourra lui donner des informations menant à la fillette.

La mission de l'avocat se termine le 30 septembre à 19h. L'homme de loi a cependant spécifié qu'une personne ayant participé à l'enlèvement, ou qui a été complice après le fait, n'est pas à l'abri de poursuites si les autorités policières découvrent par elles-mêmes des informations. Cela implique qu'il ne pourra pas les représenter en justice.

Les personnes ayant des informations doivent appeler au numéro 418-687-2862.

Cedrika Provencher parents issue plea for info

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

What does this tell me? $170,000 doesn't buy much, that's what it tells me. Someone probably tried to collect last week by giving some information (so, the search in the woods). That led nowhere. And now this. Very disappointing:

QUEBEC — The family of a Quebec girl who vanished more than two years ago issued a desperate plea for anyone with information on her fate to come forward before a deadline expires Wednesday.

Cedrika Provencher was nine years old when she disappeared in July 2007. Her family has offered $170,000 to anyone who would help locate her.

But the reward — and an agreement by the family's lawyer, Guy Bertrand, to provide confidentiality to anyone with information — expires at the end of the day Wednesday.

"This (strategy) didn't yield the results we expected and we don't have any other choice but to hope things will turn around in the last few days," said the girl's grandfather, Henri Provencher, from the family home in Trois-Rivieres, a town midway between Montreal and Quebec City.

"It's quite a package we're offering to people who are holding on to crucial information," he said.

Bertrand, a prominent Quebec lawyer, is looking to speak with witnesses, people who know the presumed kidnappers or even the alleged kidnappers themselves.

Police launched a massive search for Cedrika in the months after her disappearance, but there have been no leads on her whereabouts. Nor have there been any arrests in the case.

The family has searched for her relentlessly and took the unusual step in June of enlisting Betrand to act as special investigator in the case.

He has promised anyone who confides in him will not be handed over to authorities, citing client-lawyer confidentiality.

As the Sept. 30 deadline looms, the family fears it might be headed back to square one if no relevant information is unearthed. Provencher said the lawyer has received a high number of calls, but that only "a few" were of interest.

"We hope the pressure is mounting on those who have information," the grandfather said.

"They'll never have another opportunity like that," he stressed.

Provencher said the family is not giving up hope and will continue to look for Cedrika until they know what happened to her.

The family will meet with Bertrand this week to review the situation, but Provencher said they will probably not extend his mandate.

Bertrand declined to comment on the case when reached at his Quebec City office Monday.

She's So Heavy

noreply@blogger.com (John Allore) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:49:00 +0000

C'est curieux. L'automne toujours a me pensant au past. Je pense beaucoup de Theresa aujourd'hui. Que faisait-elle il y a 31 ans ? Qui pensait-elle à ? Qui pensait à elle ? Le past est lourd.

Who Killed Theresa?

Interactive Crime Scene Map for Theresa Allore, Manon Dube, and Louise Camirand

Worrying signs in Kingston canal murder case : Cancrime

Worrying signs in Kingston canal murder case : Cancrime

Serial Killer Clifford Olson = Theresa Allore

Serial Killer Clifford Olson = Theresa Allore

Natasha Cournoyer - funeral next to dump site?

Happy Birthday Theresa Allore

Charles Toliver - Missing Since 2000

Mariam Machniashvili Missing

Pierre Hugues Boisvenu pressures Liberal Government

Vito Spano addresses Cold Case Conference

Police stay quiet on Natasha Cournoyer Investigation

Happy Thanksgiving Canada

Natasha Cournoyer: Police Focus on Surveillance Cameras

Natasha Cournoyer's Body Found

Body in Pointe aux Trembles; Natasha Cournoyer was last seen near Laval office parking lot Thursday night

Quebec Police Defend Use Of Tasers

SQ chopper hunts for missing Piedmont woman,Natasha Cournoyer

Officer nailed for using Police database on behalf of Hells Angels' Dad

Citoyens Quebec, chantons nous!

"It's a Small World After All,

It's A Small World After All

It's a Small World After All,It's A Small World After All"

It's a Small World After All,

It's A Small World After All"

Montreal police officer charged with unlawful access to database

Nancy Cedeno headed for suspended sentence

Former border agent convicted of taking bribes

Aided drug mules at airport; She faces 14 years in prison despite being acquitted of seven other charges

La Règle du jeu - Olympics 2016

Et j''te dis, Rene "a la prochaine fois!"

Cedrika Provencher - Le Pire

mercredi 16 septembre 2009

Le grand-père de Cédrika Provencher lance un cri du coeur

Cedrika Provencher parents issue plea for info

She's So Heavy

It's a Small World After All,
It's A Small World After All"