Two police officers are still assigned Thursday to the search for the little girl who fell into the Mistassibi River in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean last Friday, after a slide. A helicopter could also fly over the area, according to the Sûreté du Québec.
The drama continues in the middle of the holiday season in Dolbeau-Mistassini, a town of some 14,000 inhabitants located north of Lake Saint-Jean.
There are only two police officers left assigned to the search for the little girl who disappeared for seven days in the backwaters of the Mistassibi River last Friday.
The agents are at “fixed observation points, strategically placed on the river where the little girl could resurface,” explains Sergeant Hugues Beaulieu, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
A helicopter could also be dispatched to fly over the scene on Thursday, Sergeant Beaulieu told The Press. Another person is in the command center, still in place.
Since Friday, intensive searches have mobilized a large number of police officers and other people, such as teams of divers. Again on Tuesday, around twenty police officers were hard at work to find the little girl, as well as a drone and a nautical team. The team was reduced on Wednesday, but police officers patrolled the river in a boat.
“At the end of each day, we evaluate what we have done, what remains to be done,” emphasizes Sergeant Beaulieu. He was unable to comment on Thursday morning on the continuation of the operations.
Citizens and residents are encouraged to monitor the banks. A photo of the girl’s snowsuit was published with the family’s permission. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a rainbow coat and blue snow pants.
Last Friday, emergency services were called around 2:30 p.m. to go to the place where the little girl was sliding with her mother, near a hiking trail located near Route 169.
It was at this point that the child was unable to stop his course, passing through the mesh of a guardrail installed along the bank and then finding himself in the waters of the river.
A donation collection campaign was launched on Tuesday on the GoFundMe platform to support the family and make a commemorative plaque in honor of the little girl. As of Thursday morning, more than $8,800 had already been raised, out of a goal of $10,000.