As the search for a missing nine-year-old Trois-Rivières girl rolled towards the third week, Quebec Premier Jean Charest met privately on Friday with the child's parents and spoke to officers working on the case.

Charest did not comment on what he said during his sit-down with Cédrika Provencher's parents, but the family later told Radio-Canada they appreciated the gesture. They said Charest offered his sympathy to them, speaking as a father himself.

Posters were distributed in the Trois-Rivières area in an effort to find the missing girl last week.
(Canadian Press)

According to a witness who spoke to a regional newspaper in Trois-Rivières, two people may have been involved in Cédrika's disappearance.

The freckle-faced girl was last seen riding her bike on July 31 around 8 p.m.

Early in the search for the missing girl, a local woman, Madeleine Bournival, came forward to say she had seen Cédrika, who had told her she was helping a woman find a lost dog.

Police later issued information that other children said they had been asked by a man to help find his dog.

Bournival told the regional newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, she's sticking to her story that Cédrika said it was a woman who approached her.

Investigation 'suggests it is a man alone'

She said police told her not to make further statements because it could jeopardize their investigation.

Police would not confirm her story, but continued to say no theory is being ruled out.

"We are aware of that information," Quebec provincial police spokesman Richard Gagne said Friday. "On the other hand, you'll understand we have other information that makes us think it is less reliable. We are not rejecting anything out of hand. We are investigating but the priority suggests it is a man alone."

There is an $80,000 reward for any information that helps police find the missing girl.

The reward money was donated by residents of several communities in the area and collected by Sun Youth, a Montreal organization that provides aid for the underprivileged.

Police suspended their ground search for Cédrika last weekend, saying they had scoured the area. But volunteers have continued to look for her.