Autopsy reveals missing girl was murdered

[Braedley]

CHESTER — 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.
Karissa's family was notified at about 9 a.m. Thursday about the identity of the remains, and the fact the youngster was a homicide victim, a news conference at the Chester RCMP detachment heard.

Police have no suspects and are calling the slaying an isolated incident. Karissa was a Grade 6 student who had been reported missing since Jan. 27.

Investigators are not releasing details of their murder probe, but acknowledged they know how the girl was killed and when. Karissa's body was found Saturday above the high water mark on the banks of the LaHave River.

``I can't get into too much in the way of specifics,'' said Sgt. John Collyer of the Bridgewater police. ``That's the investigators' thoughts on it at this point. I can't really speculate any further.''

An autopsy was performed in Halifax Wednesday.

School officials have informed students and teachers at Karissa's school that the body found was identified as the missing child. But they're not telling the students how she died, leaving that for parents to explain.

It's been an extremely emotional day at Bridgewater Elementary, where principal Mark MacLeod was notified of Karissa's death at 1 p.m.

"It's unimaginable, in terms of a 12-year-old girl having her life cut short," he said. "She had so much to live for."

The school has sent home a note to parents and has grief specialists available to help students and staff.

In Bridgewater, residents were stunned and saddened to learn of Karissa's fate.

Armenia Corkum, a grandmother, was shocked to hear about the girl's murder.

"It shakes you — it sure does," said the woman, as she was loading groceries in a vehicle in the same parking lot that Karissa was reportedly last seen. "I never expected that."

Said Kim Walters, shopping with her two-year-old daughter, Madison: "It's shocking, and very upsetting."

Karissa's story has touched everyone in this peaceful town on Nova Scotia's South Shore. Ms. Walters said her eight-year-old daughter, Michelle, had been making missing-person signs in the hope the youngster could be found alive and well.

Ms. Walters said she'll be explaining to Michelle what happened to Karissa, but won't have any answers for her questions.

Searchers looked for Karissa for days before a passerby found her body Saturday morning. An RCMP dive team checked the LaHave River more than once for any sign of the missing child prior to the discovery.

Karissa's family has said the youngster went missing after having an argument with her mother. Her family said she disappeared from a parked vehicle at a grocery store's parking lot while her mother was inside the store.

I knew that she was the girl they pulled out of the river over the weekend, even without the police releasing the identity. I never thought that she was murdered.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Most people who kill small children are either relatives or paedophiles. Paedophiles usually stalk their victims--so it is rather weird that she disappeared after running away and was then murdered, rather than, if stalked by such a monster, disappearing from a routine activity. The circumstances of her disappearance make for some considerable reasons to have suspicion against the family.

[MMC]

I find it deeply disturbing when people matter of factly state that the circumstances throw suspicion on the family. I have not heard or read one iota of anything even hinting at this in any credible news source and until I read that the police are considering the family as suspects, I refuse to even think it. Think of how you would feel if that was your child murdered and people were spreading these rumours without foundation.

It seems to be based on just pure speculation and although I realize that it could be true, because we have seen such horrible things before, I have to wonder if people tend to just go there because it's actually easier to think that a parent would commit such a horrific act than to believe that we can't leave a 12 year old child alone in a small quaint little place like Bridgewater.

[FSTargetDrone]

I find it deeply disturbing when people matter of factly state that the circumstances throw suspicion on the family. I have not heard or read one iota of anything even hinting at this in any credible news source and until I read that the police are considering the family as suspects, I refuse to even think it. Think of how you would feel if that was your child murdered and people were spreading these rumours without foundation.

It seems to be based on just pure speculation and although I realize that it could be true, because we have seen such horrible things before, I have to wonder if people tend to just go there because it's actually easier to think that a parent would commit such a horrific act than to believe that we can't leave a 12 year old child alone in a small quaint little place like Bridgewater.

In general, most young murder victims are killed by family members (PDF link):

Most homicides of young children are committed by family members through beatings or suffocation. Although victims include approximately equal numbers of boys and girls, offenders include a disproportionate number of women. Homicides of young children may be seriously undercounted.

And

Two characteristics that particularly distinguish the homicides of young children from those of other juvenile victims are that homicides of young children are committed primarily by family members and by the common (68 percent) use of “personal weapons” (i.e., hands and feet) to batter, strangle, or suffocate victims.

That information is from the Department of Justice in the USA. In any case, no one is saying this case does involve family members, only that it is most likely to involve family members.