Mayor relieved search for father called off

The mayor of the town where an exhaustive provincial police manhunt for the missing father of two deceased sisters came to an end Saturday night says he’s confident authorities have done all they could to find Martin Carpentier.

After 10 days of searching for Carpentier, 44, the Sûreté du Québec announced it was suspending its ground search in the St-apollinaire area and surrounding towns.

Police said they were changing their approach to the investigation but remain determined to find Carpentier.

Bernard Ouellet, the mayor of St-apollinaire, said there’s been a lot of stress and worry among residents in the area where sisters Norah and Romy Carpentier, aged 11 and six, were found dead on July 11, triggering the manhunt for Martin Carpentier.

“The news of the end of the search brought me some relief. It will be less stressful for the population,” Ouellet said Sunday.

Ouellet said he’s satisfied that the SQ did everything they could to find Martin Carpentier, who has been missing in the area since a car crash on the evening of July 8. An Amber Alert was triggered the following day.

Since finding Carpentier’s damaged car, police said they’ve investigated 1,000 tips and searched more than 700 buildings.

“We are on the lookout for new information allowing us to redeploy our staff in other sectors,” police said in a statement, adding other investigative techniques are also to be employed, without elaborating.

At first, the imposing police presence and the crush of journalists descending on the quiet town of 5,000 was a bit concerning as roadblocks, police vehicles and media trucks became part of the landscape.

“But we saw all the great work that was done by police. They looked everywhere. You have to think there’s little chance he’s still around,” Ouellet said. “That’s why today I can say I’m quite relieved.”

Ouellet said the death of the sisters hit hard in the town where they were found.

Their funeral is scheduled for this afternoon in their hometown of Lévis.