She was nine years old then. Today she would be 24 years old. She is almost as old as Olivier Dubé, who went to the same school as Cédrika Provencher.
At our age… We were a bit naïve. We were aware that there was a lot of talk about it at school, but we were more or less aware of the impact it could have, says Mr Dubé, who is now a father himself.
However, he quickly felt the effects in his family life.
“We really saw a before and after with our parents. We could no longer go to the parks alone to play, even in broad daylight at lunchtime when there were many parents around. Our parents still had to be there to take care of us. »
— A quote from Olivier Dubé
His wife, Stéphanie Loubier Tardif, believes that the story of this little girl, who was almost her age, shaped her own idea of security. I don’t trust anyone today. That story is still in our minds.
Today, July 31 is recognized as World Day for the Prevention of Child Abduction, an initiative of the missing girl’s grandfather, Henri Provencher, who established the Cédrika Provencher Foundation to raise awareness of the cause across Quebec.
“It is stories like Cédrika’s that have made us aware and that accompany us into adulthood with children. »
— A quote from Elizabeth Forcier Bergeron
Ms Bergeron, who is a mother, explains that her children have return times in the evenings and that she is always worried when they go to the parks.
We still don’t know who is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Cédrika Provencher.
The girl’s bones were discovered in 2015 in a wooded area near Highway 40 on the Trois-Rivières-Saint-Maurice border.
With information from Magalie Masson