SQ widens search for missing Sherbrooke woman

This story has been updated.

MONTREAL – The search for a missing 82-year-old woman widened Tuesday, with the Sûreté du Québec deploying search teams on land, in a boat and in a helicopter to find the normally-reliable resident of the Rock Forest area of Sherbrooke.

Police were still questioning a 16-year-old boy in relation to the disappearance of Rejeanne Pelletier-Charette, 82, who has been missing from her home since Friday.

The teen is considered an important witness, the police said. The SQ initially named the boy when they were looking for him on Monday, and handed out his photo to the media. But Tuesday morning, police asked reporters to stop using the boy’s name and photo since he is a minor.

The SQ located him Monday night after he went missing from his youth readaptation centre in Val du Lac on Thursday. The centre’s website says it houses about 100 students and residents of youth group homes for "transitional, specialized tutoring and readaptation."

Meanwhile, Pelletier-Charette’s 2008 champagne-coloured Mazda 3 was found in the parking lot of a Maxi grocery store in Sherbrooke at about 5:30 p.m. Monday, SQ Sgt. Gregory Gomez del Prado said.

Pelletier-Charette was last seen Friday; friends became concerned and reported her missing on Sunday, Gomez del Prado said.

A teenage boy was seen going door to door on Rodrigue St., where Pelletier-Charette lives in Sherbrooke’s Rock Forest district.

The boy was asking people if he could use their phone, the SQ said.

Pelletier-Charette is not known to suffer any medical condition that might explain her disappearance, Gomez del Prado said.

Gomez del Prado would not comment on media reports that the woman may have been kidnapped. He would not comment on media reports that blood was seen on a door knob and on the floor at the woman’s home.

"At this point, all scenarios are being considered," he said.

Anyone with information about the missing woman is asked to call the Sûreté du Québecc at 1-800-659-4264.