By Canadian Press

Coroner’s report into Quebec girls’ deaths urges change in handling of disappearances

Oct 28, 2021 | 11:58 AM

MONTREAL — A Quebec coroner who investigated the deaths of two young sisters killed by their father is recommending broader criteria for triggering Amber Alerts and the creation of a dedicated police unit to investigate children’s disappearances across the province.

Those are among several recommendations from coroner Sophie Régnière stemming from the killings last year of Romy and Norah Carpentier and the suicide of their father, Martin Carpentier.

The girls and their father vanished after their car was involved in a serious accident on Highway 20 in St-Apollinaire, Que., southwest of Quebec City, on July 8, 2020, just before 9:30 p.m.

It was not until 3 p.m. the next day, July 9, that an Amber Alert was broadcast.

In reports made public today, the coroner concludes the girls’ deaths likely occurred on the afternoon of July 9, and their bodies were found on July 11 not far from each other.

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Martin Carpentier took his own life in the hours after the girls’ killings, but his body was only found on July 20.

The coroner recommends Quebec provincial police conduct an exhaustive overview of their procedures when a child disappears.

She found that a number of factors hampered the investigation and if handled differently, it might have helped locate the girls more quickly and possibly prevented their deaths.

She says that Martin Carpentier’s actions were triggered by an impending divorce from the mother of the two girls and he was fearful of losing access to them. Romy, 6, was Carpentier’s biological daughter but Norah, 11, was not and he had adopted her when she was born.

The disappearance gripped the attention of the province, especially in the town of just over 6,000 people where it played out and in the family’s hometown of Lévis, across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2021.

The Canadian Press