Exactly 15 years ago to the day, young Cédrika Provencher, aged nine, was reported missing in Trois-Rivières.
• Also read: 15 years later, Cédrika’s relatives remember the events
Left for a bike ride, the child never came home.
Although the investigation has evolved over the years, the crime remains unpunished to this day.
Here are the highlights of the Cédrika Provencher case over the past 15 years:
Cédrika Provencher is missing in the evening. She would have left the house at around 6:15 p.m. and was due to return at 8:45 p.m. Her mother called 9-1-1 at around 9:25 p.m.
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After his disappearance, the nine-year-old child is still nowhere to be found. Hundreds of volunteers join the police to comb the area.
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“I want to find my sister”: Mélissa Provencher, Cédrika’s sister, sends a message to the kidnapper, begging him to release her.
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The family continues to organize search parties to find her.
Hoping to loosen her tongue, Sun Youth offers an $80,000 reward to help find Cédrika Provencher.
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Sûreté du Québec (SQ) police officers are providing the first description of a car and a wanted man in connection with the young girl’s disappearance.
You are looking for a red Acura car with beige interior and chrome handles.
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The wanted man is between 30 and 40 years old, has brown hair, is of average height and speaks French.
The research and investigations continue, but still no news from Cédrika Provencher.
The singer Celine Dion even starts a call on her website to collect information about the child’s disappearance.
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Lawyer Guy Bertrand is acting as an independent prosecutor in the case of Cédrika Provencher’s disappearance.
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He offers $170,000 to anyone who can tell him where the girl is and promises to protect the kidnapper’s identity from the police through professional secrecy.
An attempt that will not bear fruit.
A skull is found by hunters in a wooded area 15 km from where Cédrika Provencher disappeared.
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An analysis concludes that it is in fact the skull of the young girl.
A true race against time begins in the sector to find new clues before the snow arrives. However, the search remains unsuccessful.
ANDREANNE LEMIRE/QMI AGENCY
Fifteen years after Cédrika Provencher’s disappearance, her family and friends are still dismayed.
Without a perpetrator behind bars, they remain unanswered and hope to one day find out what really happened on the evening of July 31, 2007.