After getting hundreds of tips about the disappearance of a ten-year-old boy, Montreal police say they would like to talk to a a woman who was in the park the morning Ariel Kouakou disappeared.
Ariel Kouakou was last seen on Monday March 12, 2018 when he left his Montreal home to visit a friend, who ended up not being at home.
The ten-year-old boy then walked to nearby Parc des Bataliers, along the back river, where he was seen playing on his own by a woman who spoke to him.
Now police have received a tip that a second woman was in the park that morning around the time Ariel went missing.
Inspector Ian Lafreniere said because surveillance video showed Ariel walking to the park but he was never spotted leaving the area, police believe that Ariel slipped into the river and drowned.
"I don't want to be negative but she won't help us to find Ariel. This is really more about knowing what happened, were there any kids playing on the riverside. This is really to explain to the family what happened in the last moments," said Lafreniere.
Police have conducted many searches of the river, most recently on May 31, but have yet to turn up any sign of the boy.
Ariel's family, however, believes that the boy was abducted. The Kouakous have been calling on the Montreal police force to create a specialized unit to deal with possible abductions.
