Quebec provincial police have released details about a suspect car and driver in the Cédrika Provencher investigation.

Police have provided a description of the suspect in the Cédrika case:

  • Caucasian, French-speaking man of medium build.
  • Chestnut hair, age 30-40.
  • Wearing Bermudas, short-sleeved shirt and sandals.

Investigators say suspect was driving a Red Acura:  

  • Four-door sedan with chrome handles and untinted windows.
  • Model 2002-04

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-659-4264.

Nearly five weeks after the 10-year-old vanished from her Trois-Rivières neighbourhood, police said they're looking for a red Acura four-door identified by several eyewitnesses in the moments leading up to the girl's disappearance.

The car has chrome handles and untinted windows, but may have been altered in the weeks that followed the abduction, Sûreté du Québec spokesman François Doré said in a press conference Thursday in Trois-Rivières, a mid-size city in central Quebec.

The driver is described as a white, French-speaking man of medium build with chestnut-coloured hair, between 30 and 40 years old. He was wearing Bermuda shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and sandals at the time.

Quebec police say they're searching for a red Acura. Quebec police say they're searching for a red Acura.
(Sûreté du Québec)

Doré said it was impossible for investigators to produce a police sketch because they are missing vital features. The suspect could have changed his appearance in the weeks that followed the kidnapping, he said.

The suspect could be anyone, he added.

"That man, he could be your brother, your father, your uncle," Doré said. "It could be a friend, it could be a work colleague, or an acquaintance."

Police defended the five-week delay to produce a description of the vehicle and driver, and said it took this long for investigators to check some 4,000 tips received about Cédrika's disappearance.

An Amber alert will not be issued because of the time that has elapsed since the girl was reported missing, Doré said.

The suspect and car description have been broadcast across Canada and in the northeastern United States, he added.

Montreal tip yields no new clues
A tip to Montreal police first believed to be connected to the Cédrika investigation has turned out to be nothing, provincial police also confirmed Thursday.

On Monday, a man called 911 to say he thought he saw Cédrika Provencher in a red minivan in a supermarket parking lot in the Montreal-area community of St-Léonard.

Cédrika Provencher, 10, has been missing since July 31.Cédrika Provencher, 10, has been missing since July 31.
(Canadian Press)

The man said the girl appeared to be in distress and had tears in her eyes.

Sgt. Jayson Gauthier told CBC News that there appears to be no link between the van and the Cédrika case.

He was not able to say why the tip led to a dead end. Gauthier said Montreal police are checking the information.

Montreal police were not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Fifty investigators are still working on Cédrika's case, Gauthier said, including 30 in the Trois-Rivières region and 20 across Quebec.

With files from the Canadian Press