Police in northern New Brunswick are treating the recent disappearance of a 14-year-old girl as suspicious.
According to the Bathurst Police Force, a ground search and rescue team is looking through a “specific area” in the Chaleur region on Wednesday as part of the investigation.
Madison Roy-Boudreau was last seen on May 11 at around 7:30 a.m. Her friends and family have not heard from her since.
According to a statement from police Chief Stephane Roy, the teen was seen getting into a grey Ford Ranger pickup truck that morning.
Police have since found and seized that vehicle “with the assistance of the public.”
“We understand there has been much discussion over the fact that an Amber Alert was not activated,” Roy said in the statement.
“We assure you that, at the onset, members of the Criminal Investigation Division had considered submitting a request to the RCMP’s J Division for the activation of an Amber Alert. However, we quickly realized that the 4 criteria, that must all be met, were not.”
He notes only authorized members of the ground search and rescue team will be permitted at the search site, along with law enforcement.
“We understand and appreciate that the general public will want to help with the search,” Roy said.
“However, this group of trained individuals have a systematic approach to their search and we want to allow them the space to do their jobs efficiently.”