After studying two Quebec girls' deaths, coroner urges change in how police handle disappearances

Montreal -

Warning -- This story contains details of violence that some may find disturbing

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.

Those are among several recommendations from coroner Sophie Regniere stemming from an investigation into the killings of Romy and Norah Carpentier and the suicide of their father, Martin Carpentier.

Regniere concluded Martin Carpentier was going through a severe mental breakdown when the tragedy unfolded on July 8, 2020.

He was about to get divorced and feared he would lose access to his two daughters Romy and Norah.

That evening, he took his two girls for ice cream. On his way home, he appeared to have intentionally crashed his car on Highway 20 in St-Apollinaire near Quebec City with his two girls on board.

They survived, but Carpentier fled in the woods with them. Police began their search a few hours later.

Officers from the Surete du Quebec (SQ) first thought the girls were not in danger, because their mother said the father was not the type who would hurt them.

They later decided to treat the case as a possible crime after learning Carpentier was suffering from depression and had sent text messages indicating he was about to end his life.

The investigation later revealed the father, equipped with camping gear, spent the night in an empty camper in the woods with his daughters. The coroner wrote that Carpentier, a scout leader, was getting his girls to help him start a fire. Both were killed by a blow to the head with a blunt object.

The coroner says the SQ waited way too long before issuing an Amber Alert. Investigators, she writes, had all the elements in place to issue the alert at 6 a.m. the day after they went missing -- when the girls were likely still alive.

Instead, Police waited until 3 p.m.

It took several more days for police to find their bodies. The father hanged himself, and his body was only discovered two weeks later in the woods.

“This Amber Alert should have been issued earlier,” said retired SQ officer Francois Doré.

“Would the situation have changed? We would have put all the chances on our side. Sixteen hours later they were maybe still alive,” he said.

The coroner says the SQ’s efforts were not coordinated, and that precious time was lost.

The coroner made several recommendations to help prevent similar incidents in the future, including:

• The criteria to launch Amber Alerts should be re-evaluated
• A centralized police unit specialized in missing persons should be created
• Communication protocols in emergency situations should be improved

The coroner also says health-care professionals should be able to divulge confidential information about patients to police when there's an emergency, so that investigators can have access to all the facts they need on a case.

Police reportedly tried to verify with local hospitals if Carpentier had been there seeking medical care, but were told they couldn’t respond because of patient confidentiality.

The SQ says it will wait until it can study the report before responding to the coroner’s recommendations. 

-- Published with files from The Canadian Press.