Police and volunteers continued to scour the woods on Sunday for signs of Yvon Lacasse, the 71-year-old missing man whose car was used in an alleged kidnapping that was the center of an Amber Alert.
Lucie Lacasse, the missing man’s niece, is from the Ottawa area and spent Saturday searching for her uncle by car on highways and side roads. On Sunday, she chose to join the organized search on foot.
“It’s our family, we need to find him,” she said. “In my mind, it’s for certain he was taken hostage by this man. It’s out of character for him. It was his character to help, but I think he had no choice.”
Lacasse said her uncle was a kind man and said it was highly unlike him to not be in touch with his family for this amount of time.
“I think of past families who have been through this,” she said. “I wrote to a friend yesterday, you never know what’s the next chapter in life. It’s unreal.”
Police initially began searching for Lacasse on Thursday, the same day an Amber Alert was issued for a missing six-year-old boy from St-Eustache. The boy’s mother was found dead in the family home.
Along with police and family, almost 200 volunteers have been helping in the search efforts.
Volunteer Kimberley Hamblin came from Blainville to help in the search. She said she knows people connected to Lacasse’s family and wanted to do her part to try and help.
“We’ll be here as long as it takes,” she said. “We need the family to have some peace from this.”
Surete du Quebec spokesperson Claude Denis said he couldn’t give an exact estimate of how far the search perimeter could extend.
Police release photo of possible witness
The SQ has also released a composite sketch of another witness who was reportedly seen with the suspect in Rouyn-Noranda on the night of September 15. Police say the individual is around 40 years-old, stands approximately 5'6", weighs around 220 lbs with brown hair and blue eyes.
Earlier Sunday, police released photos of an unidentified motorcycle rider who they believe may have some information that could be helpful in the search for Lacasse. The biker was at the same Lachute rest stop as the boy’s father at approximately the same time Lacasse’s car was stolen. The witness came forward on Sunday.
Cette personne s'est rapportée aux policiers. Nous vous remercions de vos nombreux partages. #disparition https://t.co/W0vj6OzCrR
— Sûreté du Québec (@sureteduquebec) September 17, 2017
Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-659-4264.
The missing boy and his father were found on Friday in Griffith, Ontario. The child was handed over to Quebec child services while the father was arrested. While he was set to be handed over to Quebec authorities, he was later hospitalized in Ontario, though details about the man’s condition were not made public.
It is unclear when he might be sent back to Quebec.
