Sûreté du Québec responds to report into deaths of Romy and Norah Carpentier

Quebec’s provincial police says it has already corrected several operational issues flagged by a Quebec coroner regarding the 2020 search to find two missing girls who were later discovered killed by their father.

The Sûreté du Québec says it made multiple changes to improve its search operations and Amber Alert protocols in the aftermath of the search for Romy and Norah Carpentier.

In a report released Tuesday, Quebec coroner Luc Malouin says the search was marked by numerous delays by police decision-makers who failed to fully grasp the urgency of the situation.

Malouin says police erred in not quickly launching a ground search for the young girls after they and their father mysteriously went missing after a car crash on the evening of July 8, 2020.

After crashing his car on Highway 20, Martin Carpentier fled the scene and later killed 11-year-old Norah and six-year-old Romy in the woods near St-Apollinaire, Que., southwest of Quebec City. He then killed himself.

The search for the girls and their father turned into a multi-day police manhunt that gripped the province.

Questions quickly emerged about the quality of the police investigation, which led to a public inquiry presided by Malouin between February and May of this year.

The coroner concluded a lack of planning, a shortage of qualified personnel and communication errors hampered early search efforts. He also criticized police for not alerting the media first thing on the morning of July 9.

Police have been repeatedly questioned over the fact an Amber Alert for the missing children was not issued until 3 p.m. the day after their disappearance.

Malouin says while broadcasting the alert was delayed by a technical problem, it was unlikely to have yielded results. He noted the issues with the alert system that were present in 2020 have since been resolved.

SQ responds to coroner report

In a news release Wednesday, the SQ says it pinpointed areas of improvement in the immediate aftermath of the high-profile operation.

The provincial police force says it improved its search and rescue training for police officers by establishing an “adapted learning path” to deepen their skills; implemented a unified command structure specific to search and rescue operations; and identified its partners in land searches and consolidated collaborations with those entities.

The Sûreté du Québec also says support is currently offered to investigators already involved in disappearance cases, with a coordinator being contacted for any disappearance not in line with a person’s usual behavior; the disappearance of a child under 13; or when Amber Alert criteria need to be assessed.

“In conclusion, the Sûreté du Québec is committed to achieving its mission of protecting life,” the SQ said. “The event which led to this public inquiry is very sad and we sincerely sympathize with all the people affected by this difficult ordeal.”

Quebec coroner Malouin says despite the flaws in the investigation, it’s unclear whether even the best-organized search would have been enough to find the girls alive.

List of coroner recommendations to SQ

All 11 recommendations from the coroner to the SQ in the Carpentier case:

• Modify the “Runaway, Missing and Abduction” Management Policy ENQ, CRIM.-36 to provide for the presence of two investigators for any disappearance of a child under 13 years of age;
• Remind all officers, investigators and police officers of the importance of always consider the disappearance of a child under 13 as a worst-case scenario and act accordingly;
• Equip vehicles and police officers with the technology needed to share information gathered during a police operation;
• Train police officers in its emergency services, for both pool both Basin 1 and Basin 2, in accordance with national search and rescue and rescue standards, and to ensure the maintenance of skills and experience in accordance with national standard CSA Z1620-15;
• Establish simple, effective partnership and collaboration protocols with other police forces, wildlife protection officers and volunteers from the Association québécoise des bénévoles en recherche et sauvetage (AQBRS), and disseminate these protocols to all officers;
• Initiate a media alert promptly after a disappearance, especially those involving children under 13;
• Set up a unified command post as soon as a ground search operation begins;
• Assign a ground search technician to this command post, to act as liaison between searchers and investigators;
• Complete feedback at the end of each day;
• Better drafting of all operations logs, both for investigative work and for ground searches;
• Assign two ground search technicians when, after initial searches, additional personnel are added.

–With files from The Canadian Press