Sûreté duQuébec beefs up cold-case squad to crack unsolved deaths

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...to-crack-unsolved-suspicious-deaths-1.4488399
Sûreté du Québec beefs up cold-case squad to try to crack unsolved suspicious deaths


Provincial police force sextuples unit to tackle backlog of suspected homicides dating back more than 50 years

The Canadian Press Posted: Jan 15, 2018

Quebec provincial police will significantly hike the number of officers assigned to its cold-case squad in the coming months as it aims to tackle a backlog of unsolved suspicious deaths dating back more than 50 years.

The unit's membership will increase from five to nearly 30 and will have a presence in the Montreal area and Quebec City, a spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec said Monday.

Lt. Martine Asselin explained that regular investigators often have to respond to breaking crimes or urgent cases, meaning unresolved killings are relegated to the back burner.

"Now they will work full-time on these cases,'' Asselin said.

The unit will have plenty of work, as there are currently about 750 unsolved cases in its jurisdiction, dating back to the 1960s.
Nearly two-thirds are organized crime cases, however, the unit will focus on those suspicious deaths involving women, children and the elderly, Asselin said.
 
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/sq-beefs-up-cold-case-squad-in-attempt-to-solve-murders-1.3760463
Quebec provincial police, which will have among the largest units, say they found benefits in having a bigger group working on a case -- like the high-profile disappearance of Cedrika Provencher, a young Quebec girl who vanished from near her home in 2007.

In December 2015, her remains were discovered in a wooded area and, to date, there have been no arrests in her disappearance and slaying.

When the squad was founded in 2004, it wanted to take advantage of relatively new investigative techniques like DNA profiling.

Asselin said investigators found that witnesses or tipsters are more willing to talk as time passes.

She also said social media could be a new tool for the revamped unit.

"Someone who knew something who didn't talk, maybe sometimes sitting behind a computer is more likely to (get them) share the information," she said.
 
Home | Cold cases - Sûret&eacute du Québec
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"Cold cases
The development of new investigative techniques led the Sûreté du Québec to create a team whose sole mission is to solve cold cases. This website is a call for the assistance of the public in providing the police with any information that could help solve cases involving serious crimes against persons."



Vincent Roy
On March 23, 1980, the Mirabel firefighters received a ...
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Chantale Rochon
Her body was found in a wooded area in Blainville, on June 22, 1988 ...
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Daniel Brabant
On April 21, 1979, the body of Daniel Brabant was found inside his ...
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France McKenzie
The victim was reported missing on March 1, 1972 and her body ...
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the victim, manager of the IGA Labrecque ...
 
'Who killed Theresa?:' 40 years later, brother seeks answers in Quebec cold case
August 18, 2018
'Who killed Theresa?:' 40 years later, brother seeks answers in Quebec cold case

"Quebec provincial police announced earlier this year it was beefing up its cold-case team to nearly 30 from five, in order to apply modern investigative techniques to some 750 unsolved cases going back 50 years.

A photo of Theresa, grinning broadly and dressed in a green tank top, appears on the police's website next to a few details about her case, which is listed as "unresolved."

"Although the case was treated as a disappearance at the time, over time all avenues of inquiry have been studied and still are today," said the blurb on the police website."
Theresa's thread..
CANADA - Canada - Theresa Allore, 19, Lennoxville, QC, 3 Nov 1978
 
Ws Thread..
CANADA - Canada - Maisy Odjick, 16, & Shannon Alexander, 17, Maniwaki QC, 6 Sept 2008

Quebec police setting up new post near Maniwaki to help solve cold case - OttawaMatters.com
Sept 5 2018
"Quebec police setting up new post near Maniwaki to help solve cold case
Two young Indigenous women went missing from the region nearly ten years ago to the day.
2018-09-05-missing-indegenous.jpg;w=630

Maisy Odjick, 16, and Shannon Alexander, 17. Photo/ Sûreté du Québec
The Sûreté du Québec will be launching a command post to assist in the search for two Indigenous women, who have been missing since September 6, 2008.

Maisy Odjick, 16, and Shannon Alexander, 17, were last seen in Maniwaki, Quebec."
 
by Seth Augenstein rbbm.
Case Study: 30-Year-Old Cold Case Fingerprints Come to Light
"Latent fingerprints are left with trace sweats and oils from unique patterns, providing the first great forensic human identifier about a century ago.

One of the few problems, however: the fingermarks can dehydrate over long periods of time. Cold cases may thus be a challenge.

But a team at the Sûreté du Québec police force in Canada has put together a methodology involving fuming, dyes and lasers which produced a clear fingerprint on a challenging plastic bag surface from a double-homicide scene from the 1980s, as they report in the journal Forensic Science International.

“The current case presents a uniqueness due to the age of the revealed fingermark, and the paired success of cyanoacrylate fuming,” writes the Canadian team. “It would thus be of great interest of future cold case analysis using this technique to identify the factors having made this revelation possible.”

The plastic bag was found at the crime scene, and had been preserved in a paper evidence bag for decades.

Since the plastic bag is non-porous, it also further fostered the dehydration process in the roughly 30 years it was left untreated in storage. Its lack of texture also “eased the deposition process.”

The Sûreté forensic experts decided to try fuming with superglue: namely E-Z Bond Instant Glue (Thin), with cyanoacrylate."


"Once dry, an Arrowhead 532 nm laser was used to examine the patterns. Through orange-stained goggles, pictures are taken with a Nikon D7000 camera mounted with an orange-curved barrier filter.

"A good fingerprint was thus produced for the first time from the two homicides."
No suspect has yet matched the fingerprint from the double-murder scene, the team reports. However, the cold-case technique could crack open it and other cases in the near future, they report.


“It also reiterates the importance opening cold cases in order to treat and reassess their exhibits,” they write. “Despite the age of a fingermark, cyanoacrylate combined with rhodamine 6G and visualized with a laser can provide new evidence … This opens the possibility of making an identification and ultimately change the course of the investigation.”
 
1656764984692.png
July 2 2022
''Quebec’s provincial police force is revamping its cold case website with intentions of making it more user-friendly, and hopefully leading to resolutions to previously dead-end investigations.''

''He regularly revisits cold cases in Quebec and elsewhere and has found a pattern in the late 70s in the townships, indicating there could have been a sexual predator involved in other disappearances.

Allore's case isn't the only cold case the Surete du Quebec (SQ) wants to revive.

There was the notorious case of Sharron Prior. The 16-year-old Pointe-Saint-Charles teen who was raped and killed. Her body was found in Longueuil, and authorities reopen her case every few years.

There’s also Tiffany Morrison from Kahnawake, who was last seen in Lasalle in 2006. Her remains were later found in the community four years later. Her sister, Melanie Morrison, holds information and awareness events every year under the banner “Justice for Tiffany Morrison.”
 

''Recently published cases''​

''Unresolved cases''​

 
Has this cold case squad resolved any cold cases that you know of, @dotr ?
 
Has this cold case squad resolved any cold cases that you know of, @dotr ?
Off-hand cannot think of a recently solved cold case, but hopefully things will be up and running and they can really dig in to solve some of these cases.

''LAUNCH OF THE NEW WEBSITE FOR UNRESOLVED CASES​

Release date: June 28, 2022
Contribute to website investigations of unresolved cases
Each murder or alleged murder investigation file remains active until it is resolved. Even after decades, the slightest information from the public can allow investigators to have new leads, or even lead to a positive end. Hence the importance of consulting the website of unresolved files, a valuable tool for the Sûreté du Québec.
"Our team is active and visible; we meet with families, witnesses and suspects, among others. Most of the work consists of resuming investigations and starting on a new basis to hope for a positive outcome. The launch of this new site allows us to receive essential information from the public. Every piece of information is treated seriously by our team and we do a meticulous job," says Lieutenant Martin Desgagné, head of the Disappearances and Unsolved Files Division.
Each case is important to investigators. "Our members feel that they are providing support to the victims' family members and acting as a reference to try to get the answers to their questions," continues Lieutenant Desgagné.
A modernized site to consult
The Unresolved Cases website now offers new features that improve the viewing experience and make it easier to share content on social media. Note the addition of a search engine, a responsive mode for smartphones and tablets as well as larger photos. In addition, it is now possible to associate a folder with several cities and all content is bilingual, in French and English. The old interface was from 2011.
"We invite citizens to consult and share the website of unresolved cases; we frequently add new cases, hence the importance of visiting it regularly," says Mr. Desgagné.
He recalls that persons who hold information may transmit it confidentially by contacting the Criminal Information Centre at the email address cic@surete.qc.ca or by telephone at 1 800 659-4264.
To find out more about the files and on this website: Dossiers non résolus.''
 

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