TROIS-RIVIERES – Cedrika Provencher was nine when she disappeared. She would be 15 today. She was last seen near Parc Chapais, pedaling the streets of her neighbourhood, looking for someone’s lost dog.
Louise Beaudet remembers Cédrika well. She taught her at daycare, and she was at the park on the night of her disappearance.
“She said hi because she knew us, and then the next day I hear on the news she’s gone. It’s affected us deeply,” Beaudet told Global News.
The mother of two later gave a statement to police. But despite hundreds of tips and the promise of a $170,000 reward, nothing substantial ever came out of the search. Now, after all this time, still not knowing whether Cedrika is dead or alive really hurts, explained her grandfather.
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“Look, it’s omnipresent,” said Henri Provencher.
To mark the 6th anniversary of Cédrika’s disappearance, Provencher invited local children to a picnic and concert, where talk soon turned to prevention.
“When you’re walking and you can tell a friend is in need, go to that friend, talk to that friend, walk with that person, don’t let someone be alone,” advised Sylvie Dubé, director general of the Cédrika Provencher Foundation. “We want also to get drawings from the children, we will work from that and see what they think.”
Marilyn Thivierge came with her two sons.
“Talking about it is important,” she said. “I wouldn’t want anything like that to happen to my children.”
The mayor of Trois-Rivieres also made an appearance. Yves Lévesque said laws need to be strengthened to keep predators off the streets.
“We have to find ways to keep these people in prison. Sometimes we see these people, we know they’ve done something bad, and then they’re free and they do it again, so we have to protect citizens,” said the mayor.
Emotions are still raw in Trois-Rivieres. But Provencher said he hopes his message will carry way beyond city limits.
“We want to be international. We want all the groups to be working together,” he said.
Until then, his foundation promises to travel to schools across the province to teach children about prevention.
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