MONTREAL - The body of 10-year-old Jolene Riendeau, who went missing from Point St. Charles 1999, has finally been found.

After a dozen years of searching, police announced Wednesday morning they recovered her remains.

Police would not reveal where her body was found, what information led them them to it, nor even when it was found.

The police cited strategic reasons for keeping the information confidential as Constable Ian Lafreniere explained.

"Honestly even the family doesn't know those details," said Lafreniere. "But they do understand one thing: our priority is to find the suspect, or suspects, that did this and that's the reason we have to keep some information to ourselves," he said. 

Investigators confirmed that they consider the disappearance to be a homicide.

The disappearance of the girl from Point St. Charles led to an intensive search for many years, particularly in the area in and around the Lachine Canal.

Last year the Missing Childen's Network released an age-enhanced photo of what Riendeau might look like today.

In May 2005, Montreal police searched a section of the Lachine Canal near the Charlevoix Bridge following what they described as a "credible" tip concerning the girl's disappearance. Nothing came of the search.

She was last seen on the way back from a corner store on Charlevoix Street at 4:30 p.m. April 12, 1999 where she had bought potato chips after school.

Over one million posters were put up of her face throughout the province and a $5,000 reward was offered following her disappearance. Authorities received over 1,500 tips concerning the event. 

Retired Lieutenant Detective Steve Roberts reports that police went through "thousands of pieces of information."

"Every time you thought you had a good lead you were at the top of the mountain, when it didn't pan out you were at the bottom," he says.

The police were determined to solve the mystery.

"A homicide investigator never wants to have an open case, especially on involving a child," says Roberts.

Keeping a crime well-publicized can be a useful way of flushing out a criminal, he feels.

"It bothers the suspect because it brings back memories and that cold lead to a break in the case," he says.

But keeping the investigative squad motivated was a challenge after repeated frustrations.

"You have to tell them the next piece of information they come across is the one that will solve the case," says Roberts.