Quebec mayor satisfied with search as police shift tactics in hunt for missing dad

ST-APOLLINAIRE, Que. — The mayor of a small Quebec town where provincial police concluded ground searches for the father of two deceased young girls is satisfied police have looked thoroughly for him.

Late Saturday, police announced in a statement they were suspending their ground search for Martin Carpentier in the St-Apollinaire area and surrounding towns.

Police said they are changing their approach to the investigation but remain determined to find him.

Mayor Bernard Ouellet says there’s been a lot of stress among residents of St-Apollinaire, a small town southwest of Quebec City where sisters Norah and Romy Carpentier, aged 11 and 6, were found dead on July 11, triggering a manhunt for their 44-year-old father.

Ouellet says he’s satisfied that Quebec provincial police have done everything they can to find Carpentier, who has been missing in the area since a car crash on the evening of July 8.

While the entire province was devastated about the fate of the missing sisters, Ouellet said it hit hard in the town where they were found.

The Canadian Press