Police continue to investigate the Jolène Riendeau disappearance

With hundreds of tips and pieces of information to investigate, the police forces leave no stone unturned as any lead, as trivial as it may seem at first, can be the solution to a complicated and high-profile puzzle.

"In the Jolène Riendeau case, we completely swept the Pointe St. Charles area and examined the list of individuals known to us who have a history of sexual deviance. We had about 2,000 tips from the public and were even doing checks as far away as California," said Richard Dupuis, head of the major crimes division of the Montreal police service.

Following interviews with Riendeau’s family, friends, and personnel at her school, police concluded this was not a runaway case. There was little doubt this was a criminal abduction.

After eight years of searching, the file on Riendeau’s disappearance is still open. "We’re still working on it, just like 10 other cases involving criminal and parental abductions. Otherwise, it’s almost always runaways, and more and more it’s young girls that run away from their homes," said Claude Charlebois, head of the youth intervention and prevention division for the eastern region of the Montreal police service.

According to Dupuis, it’s important to remain positive even as the years go by. "We have to keep going and keep up to date on new techniques and developments in technology that could help us solve these crimes. The murder case of actor Denise Morelle recently proved exactly this. All the statistics are playing against us in Jolène’s case and other missing children’s cases, but we have to keep going."

Before digging or sending a mini-submarine in the Lachine Canal, like the police did in 2005 for the Jolène Riendeau case, "another specialist in ground composition was also called in for reinforcement, because we need to make sure the information we have is pertinent before mobilizing more people and resources. Unfortunately, in the case of the canal, we ran into 10 feet of sediments that complicated our searches," explained Dupuis.

(Translated by Elyse Amend)

(Photo: Courtesy)

(Photo: Courtesy)

(Photo: Courtesy)