Sad Update

It breaks my heart to type this post...

“Police confirmed Thursday a body found on the outskirts of Bridgewater last weekend was that of 12-year-old Karissa Boudreau. Investigators said she was murdered.” - The Chronicle Herald

This is very poignant news for our small town. It has left many people shocked, scared, and saddened, to say the least. So many people in the community and beyond have been rallying together searching for this little girl. A temporary memorial has been set up by the location where her body was found. People have been bringing teddy bears, flowers, baloons and notes for the last few days.

Two people were arrested but have since been released. As of right now, they say it may take months before police are able to lay charges. Here is the link for anyone that is interested in following this story.


For anyone that would like to go light a virtual candle in her memory.
Click here to light a candle for Karissa

Still Missing

Since I posted on Sunday there has been no new news of 12-year-old Karissa who went missing 11 days ago. An aerial search of the local area Monday turned up no sign of her. RCMP divers that did an underwater search found no trace of Karissa yesterday after the second day of searching the river behind where she went missing.

Here is the link to a local paper with the story: The Daily News



Child Find Nova Scotia is looking for volunteers to distribute posters. If you would like to print and distribute posters in your area here is the link: Child Find Poster





Karissa, we are praying for you!

Missing Girl

It has been one week since a local 12-year-old girl, Karissa Boudreau, has gone missing. I would like to share with you her picture and some of the stories from the news. The outpouring from the surrounding communities and beyond has been amazing. Karissa has been missing long enough now that the possibilities of her whereabouts is unlimited.

Source - Nova Scotia Chronicle Herald
BRIDGEWATER — Bridgewater police say there have been reported sightings of Karissa Boudreau, but they have not been able to confirm anyone saw the missing 12-year-old Bridgewater girl.
“We have not been able to conclusively say it was her,” said Sgt. John Collyer, acting deputy police chief. He said police agencies across Canada and the United States, and now Interpol, are aware of Karissa’s case.
Karissa’s mother, Penny Boudreau, made a brief, deeply emotional plea through the media Friday morning.
“I’m just here to reach out to my daughter,” she said, weeping. “Karissa, you have lots of people who love you and want you home.”
Ms. Boudreau begged anyone with any information to come forward and tell the police. She also thanked her employer, The Atlantic Superstore, for its support and thanked the community as a whole.
“Nothing can be done to make things better, but it’s comforting to have the support.”
Police said they have no reason to believe Karissa has been the victim of foul play, but they do not have video evidence backing up her mother’s story that her daughter got out of her car while she ran into Sobeys for about 15 minutes at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
“We have not been able to confirm Karissa was in the car. . . . It’s of concern to us. We are exploring that,” though police do have Ms. Boudreau on video going into the grocery store at that time, Sgt. Collyer said.
Nearly three hours passed before Ms. Boudreau reported her daughter missing to police, but Sgt. Collyer said Ms. Boudreau told police that’s because she first searched for her daughter on her own, driving around and checking to see if she had returned home.
No family members have been asked to take a lie detector test, and Sgt. Collyer said they have all been forthcoming with investigators.
“The family has been very co-operative with us in anything we’ve asked. We have no reason at this point to disbelieve what mom has told us.”
Investigators have spoken with Ms. Boudreau, Karissa’s father, Paul Boudreau, and Ms. Boudreau’s boyfriend, Vernon MacCumber.
“We have no reason to believe anybody’s not telling us the truth.”
He said, “This has been a criminal investigation almost from Day 1,” which is police practice. “We do not have any evidence to point to anything criminal at this point and, believe me, we’ve explored that.”
Police have also spoken with Karissa’s classmates at Bridgewater Elementary School and with some of their parents, as well as friends from Shelburne, where the girl lived until September.
“We’ve been reaching out to anybody we think had any contact with Karissa.”
Calls continue to come in from people offering to help, with one coming from as far afield as Texas, but Sgt. Collyer said the number of tips coming in has dwindled and with it, the department’s options.
“All we can do is to continue to ask the general public to try to assist us,” as investigators continue to follow up on every tip and potential lead.
Two Bridgewater police officers went up in a Natural Resources Department helicopter Thursday morning but uncovered no clues. Sgt. Collyer said the ice had cleared from the river behind the Bridgewater Mall, and some snow had cleared in the woods, so officers got a good view of things from the air.
The chopper also flew about 40 kilometres both east and west along Highway 103 because there had been reported sightings of somebody hitchhiking in the rain Sunday night.
Town police met with a member of the RCMP’s underwater recovery team shortly after Karissa disappeared, and while there were a couple of spots where she could have gone into the water, the diver said it would have been very difficult for her to have gone under the ice, “so from our point of view it was not likely she went into the river,” Sgt. Collyer said.
Karissa was wearing just a black hoodie with pink Crocs on her feet when she disappeared. Sgt. Collyer said she had no cellphone, no purse, and just $2 on her.
“We don’t know if this is an abduction. We don’t know if this is Karissa running away. We just don’t know.”
By BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau

Globe And Mail Online Report

Penny Boudreau's Emotional Plea For The Return Of Her Daughter - Feb. 01/08

CTV Online

CBC Online



FACEBOOK GROUPS

missing child-karissa boudreau
missing children
(there are many other groups for Karissa as well on Facebook.)



Please help spread the word about this family's situation and pray for Karissa's safe return. My heart goes out to this family durring this very difficult and trying time. May God watch over Karissa and all of her family.