It’s been one month since 14-year-old Madison Roy-Boudreau disappeared and her family says hope is dwindling.
“We’re pretty sure something happened now,” her aunt Linda Boudreau tells Global News.
The Bathurst, N.B., teen was reported missing by her father, Linda’s brother, at 11:18 p.m. May 11.
He last saw her going to school that morning and instantly knew something was wrong when she missed curfew.
“He’s taking it really hard,” Boudreau says.
“He’s constantly crying.”
Boudreau describes her niece as a bubbly person.
“She loved to sing, she loved to dance. She put smiles on our faces,” she says.
“The hardest part is not seeing her.
“Every time she saw me it was a big hug.”
Early in their investigation, Bathurst police said Roy-Boudreau was seen getting into a grey Ford Ranger pickup truck the morning she disappeared, the driver of which they say they’ve since spoken to.
Two weeks later, they released a timeline of the investigation so far, announcing that it was no longer just a missing person’s case but a criminal investigation.
The timeline of their investigation included details of an arrest days after Roy-Boudreau disappeared.
Steven Laurette, 42, of South Tetagouche was charged with failing to comply with the condition of a court undertaking, but police would not say how this related to Roy-Boudreau’s disappearance, if at all.
Her aunt says Laurette is known well by the family.
“He was actually a friend of Jason (Roy-Boudreau’s father) for 25 maybe 26 years,” says Boudreau.
Boudreau says she feels law enforcement is keeping them in the dark – even Madison’s father.
“It’s been a week and a half since they’ve called him,” she says.
“I feel because it’s not one of their children they don’t care no more.”
Police told media at their May 27 briefing that they would not issue further updates until there was a break in the case.
They did, however, put a brief note out at the one-month mark of the investigation.
“We take this opportunity to advise the public that we are still seeking information regarding the disappearance of Madison Roy-Boudreau,” writes Sgt. Julie Daigle, media relations officer with the Bathurst Police Force.
“At this moment, we do believe this is an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the population.”
Boudreau says she and the rest of her family are not satisfied with the recent virtual silence from the police force.
She says she’s been out searching with other volunteers nearly every day, independently fielding tips.
They’ve even turned to a number of psychic mediums from New Brunswick and beyond who feel they know something important.
“They’re contacting us left and right with tips and things that we can follow up on,” says Boudreau.
Boudreau says a number of the mediums’ theories have lined up with each other, giving them hope something might come of this method.
They’re doing anything to hold out what hope they have left, while admittedly preparing for the worst.
“She should be here,” says Boudreau.
Bathurst police still ask anyone who might have information to come forward.