'Too little, too late': Quebec coroner outlines flaws in 2020 search for missing girls

Quebec's coroner is pointing out several shortcomings in the Sureté du Québec (SQ) search for two missing girls and their father in the summer of 2020.

Luc Malouin tabled his 85-page public inquiry report into the deaths of Norah, 11, and Romy, 6, on Tuesday.

In it, he examines the events leading up to the girls' deaths and the subsequent suicide of their father, Martin Carpentier.

According to testimony by friends and family, Carpentier expressed that he greatly feared losing custody of his daughters in his impending divorce.

"Yet everyone around him reassured him that he would never lose custody and that he was a good father to his daughters," the report notes.

According to the coroner, the tipping point was on July 8, 2020, when the family went out for ice cream and got into a car accident on Highway 20 near Saint-Apollinaire.

"In his panic, he fled with his daughters, and it was only over the next few hours, as he gradually realized the untenable situation in which he had placed himself, that the idea of killing his daughters before taking his own life came to him," Malouin writes.

Following their disappearance, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) launched a search for them -- one that Malouin describes as "too little, too late."

He notes police did not request a unit until 5 a.m. the next day and didn't begin their search until just before 10 a.m.

Meanwhile, an Amber Alert was issued only in the afternoon "because of technical difficulties."

"By only requesting personnel at 5 a.m. rather than in the early hours of the night, they took a long time to arrive at the search site," said Malouin. "Nearly five hours were lost due to this delay in requesting qualified personnel."

The next day, the search again began late, at 9 a.m.

"We forgot about the urgency of the situation," the coroner wrote, noting that temperatures were sweltering at that time of month. "Two young children and their father are probably somewhere in the woods around the site of the car accident, and we're not planning for searches to start as soon as possible."

Malouin adds the SQ police did not request assistance from either Quebec City police (SPVQ) or wildlife protection officers.

"I was surprised to hear an SQ officer testify that he didn't know that the SPVQ has a search and rescue department," he wrote.

The girls' lifeless bodies were discovered in the forest on July 11.

More than a week later, Carpentier's body was found.

As a result of the search's various shortcomings, Malouin offered numerous recommendations to better prepare police officers.

In particular, he suggests that officers consider "worst-case scenarios" when dealing with the disappearance of children under 13 so they can "act accordingly."

He also recommends that police be better trained in search and rescue, as well as the sharing of information.

The coroner also recommends increased partnerships with other police forces, wildlife protection officers and the Association québécoise des bénévoles en recherche et sauvetage (AQBRS).

In addition, Malouin requests that police initiate a media alert promptly after a disappearance, "especially in cases of disappearances, especially those involving children under the age of 13."

The purpose of the inquest was to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the deaths and make recommendations "for the better protection of human life. Its mandate is not to evaluate professional actions, the quality of care provided or the competence of the professionals involved."