QUEBEC – Prominent Quebec lawyer Guy Bertrand said Wednesday he has passed several credible tips to police to help solve the disappearance of a little girl, including details about the identity of the alleged kidnapper.
Bertrand, who acted as a special investigator in the case of Cedrika Provencher who vanished in July 2007, is confident his work will eventually lead to the arrest of the people responsible for her disappearance.
"My mission has not yielded the expected results, so far, and I stress so far," Bertrand told a televised news conference in Trois-Rivieres, a city halfway between Quebec City and Montreal where Cedrika lived and went missing.
"To the family, please don’t lose hope, we are going to find Cedrika," he added.
In his report, unveiled Wednesday, Bertrand said he received 21 tips that featured "highly credible information" and passed many of those along to the police when his informers agreed.
Provencher was nine years old when she disappeared more than two years ago. Police led a massive search for Cedrika, but there have been no leads on her whereabouts. Nor have there been any arrests in the case.
The family has searched for her relentlessly and Bertrand has offered his help as a lawyer to provide confidentiality to anyone with information.
Bertrand worked on the case for a six month-period that ended Dec. 31.
Notably, Bertrand said he received information on an inmate in a Quebec prison who confessed to another inmate about being Cedrika’s kidnapper. The lawyer also said several people who talked to him, based on the client-lawyer confidentiality, had refused to go to the police for fears of reprisal.
Based on that the lawyer called on the Quebec government to create a new job of special prosecutor or special investigator for similar cases. He also recommended the Quebec provincial police create a new unit dedicated only to gathering information on missing children.
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