CANADA Canada - Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou, 10, Montreal, 12 March 2018

[freudianslip]

Police believe Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou drowned in Rivières des Prairies:

http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...-search-for-10-year-old-ariel-jeffrey-kouakou


“We have camera footage that places him in the park. We don’t see him getting out of the park.”


This is very sad. It seems the police have video footage of Ariel going into the park but not leaving. The article also states that the police believe the witness who spoke to him at the park is very credible. The article also states the witness spoke to him at 11:25am, which is much earlier than was previously reported.

Police believe Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou drowned in Rivières des Prairies:

http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...-search-for-10-year-old-ariel-jeffrey-kouakou


“We have camera footage that places him in the park. We don’t see him getting out of the park.”


This is very sad. It seems the police have video footage of Ariel going into the park but not leaving. The article also states that the police believe the witness who spoke to him at the park is very credible. The article also states the witness spoke to him at 11:25am, which is much earlier than was previously reported.

It's a good thing he addresses the father's questions and puts an end to the rumours and speculation.
This means though that all hope is lost. They're on a search and recover operation.
What a terrible tragedy.

 

[GinaSeikwa]

This new timeline makes more sense but wasn’t it the police who initially said the witness saw Ariel at 2pm? Why would they not have said 11:25AM from the beginning?

 

[indianajaune]

Is it possible that Ariel drowned in the river by trying to go to Île Perry? He might have seen the island and thought it would be a nice accomplishment to reach it on the ice cap. Unfortunately, the ice cap broke and he fell in the river. So sad...

 

[otto]

Is it possible that Ariel drowned in the river by trying to go to Île Perry? He might have seen the island and thought it would be a nice accomplishment to reach it on the ice cap. Unfortunately, the ice cap broke and he fell in the river. So sad...

I think that's a very real possibility. We know that a man fell through the ice during the search a couple of days ago, and I'm sure he thought he was on solid ground when he went through the ice. It would be so easy for a child to make the very same mistake.

 

[otto]

Police believe Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou drowned in Rivières des Prairies:

http://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...-search-for-10-year-old-ariel-jeffrey-kouakou

“We have camera footage that places him in the park. We don’t see him getting out of the park.”

This is very sad. It seems the police have video footage of Ariel going into the park but not leaving. The article also states that the police believe the witness who spoke to him at the park is very credible. The article also states the witness spoke to him at 11:25am, which is much earlier than was previously reported.

Thanks for the update. This scenario seemed so much more likely from the outset. I wonder if the parents will accept the fact that their son was seen entering the park, and not leaving, as conclusive evidence that he could only have gone into the water. Is it because it is such a final and irreversible end that they couldn't accept this possibility for the last nine days?

 

[otto]

Well that new timing is a game-changer. That would shrink the time frame from being seen on the garages cameras at 11:15 - to speaking with the witness in the park all in a matter of less than 10 minutes.

I get the impression that the family was uncertain about when Ariel left home. Now we learn that it was 11AM rather than noon, and that he was at his friend's house within 10 minutes. His friend wasn't home, so he went directly to the park - perhaps on his way home. That's where he was taken to task for possibly skipping school by a woman at the park. She saw him at 11:25 near the water, fortunately she checked the time. He should have been thinking about going home for lunch, so perhaps he slipped into the water shortly after they spoke.

After the family has accepted this conclusion, I think the witness may consider speaking with the family, but I don't think she should have contact with them if they continue to disbelieve the results of the investigation.

 

[dotr]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/paren...vices-after-montreal-boy-disappears-1.3853205

“Since Ariel went missing, parents have been telling me that they want to be able to know where their child is without giving them a cellphone, and this does the trick,” Maurice said.

There are plenty of similar products on the market, including AngelSense, Pocketfinder and the My Buddy Tag. Many are linked to smartphone apps and allow parents to watch their children’s movements throughout the day on a map. Some devices allow children to send their parents alerts or short messages.

Manufacturers market the products as potential lifesavers for kids. But parenting expert Alissa Sklar says parents should think twice before buying one.

“I think that we really need to be careful not to give our kids the message that the world is a dangerous place,” Sklar said.

 

[Jabami]

If you look at my previous posts, there was a radio interview with the mother, before the amber alert, where she stated very clearly that Ariel walked alone to his friend many times, especially in summer. They seemed to have changed that story, maybe they were afraid of backlash.


Interview with Ariel's father where he says he STILL has not met the lady from the park, that she was the last person to have seen his son. He doesn't even know who this person is, he wants her to tell them how was Ariel was dressed, they have a right to know. They are pleading her to come forth and meet with them. He asked the police to meet the woman many times and did not get a clear answer from the cops.

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/20...dariel-continuent-de-croire-a-un-enlevement-1

I've been really thinking about what the mom said about how her son walked alone to his friends house many times. I've also been wondering why nobody checked up on this little guy especially when it was a different than usual school ped day. No one checked with his friends mother to see if anyone would even be home that day. So it got me to thinking:

What if Ariel didn't have anyone's permission to go to his friends house in the first place that day? It's been reported that a family was staying with them and they asked him where he was going and if he had permission. What if this little guy pulled a fast one on the houseguests who were watching him? What if he was bored at home and decided to go see his friend and lied to the houseguests?

Maybe the reason he stayed in the park so long and was seen upset by the witness is because he was worried his lie would be found out? It would explain why his friend and his mother didn't seem to know Ariel was coming over that day. It would also explain why Ariels family didn't check up on him that day. It would also explain why he spent so much time in a cold park that day. Kids don't always think things through.

I know the boy's family have said that he had permission to go. But if they were to admit that their son lied to the houseguests and left without anyone's permission, then it's going to look like he ran away albeit not very far. That would have changed how the investigation was handled and I wouldn't blame them if they covered for their son in order to find him. If Ariel did lie it's the kind of thing 10 year olds do and it doesn't make him a bad kid. To the police, leaving home without permission would have classed this case as a run away from home situation which could have caused some confusion as to whether or not to issue the amber alert.

Those are just my speculations and not meant to offend or upset anyone.

 

[otto]

I've been really thinking about what the mom said about how her son walked alone to his friends house many times. I've also been wondering why nobody checked up on this little guy especially when it was a different than usual school ped day. No one checked with his friends mother to see if anyone would even be home that day. So it got me to thinking:

What if Ariel didn't have anyone's permission to go to his friends house in the first place that day? It's been reported that a family was staying with them and they asked him where he was going and if he had permission. What if this little guy pulled a fast one on the houseguests who were watching him? What if he was bored at home and decided to go see his friend and lied to the houseguests?

Maybe the reason he stayed in the park so long and was seen upset by the witness is because he was worried his lie would be found out? It would explain why his friend and his mother didn't seem to know Ariel was coming over that day. It would also explain why Ariels family didn't check up on him that day. It would also explain why he spent so much time in a cold park that day. Kids don't always think things through.

I know the boy's family have said that he had permission to go. But if they were to admit that their son lied to the houseguests and left without anyone's permission, then it's going to look like he ran away albeit not very far. That would have changed how the investigation was handled and I wouldn't blame them if they covered for their son in order to find him. If Ariel did lie it's the kind of thing 10 year olds do and it doesn't make him a bad kid. To the police, leaving home without permission would have classed this case as a run away from home situation which could have caused some confusion as to whether or not to issue the amber alert.

Those are just my speculations and not meant to offend or upset anyone.

All good points. One of my first comments here was about the response from the father about whether his son would go near the water. He is quoted as saying he would not go near the water and that he would go near the water, which is not an answer. He was adamant that he always walked with his son when he visited a friend, yet now we learn that he didn't. I didn't quite understand about the other people at the house when Ariel went to visit a friend, but it makes complete sense that he asked their permission to visit a friend, perhaps they asked whether he had visited the friend before, and then they agreed that he could. We then hear from the friend's mother that she feels terrible about what happened, and we know she was asked if she felt guilty about Ariel's disappearance. Clearly she knew nothing about Ariel visiting that day, yet in some ways some blame was placed on her by the reporter (interviewer) for Ariel's disappearance.

$100,000 reward money and 500 volunteers was put towards finding Ariel, yet the facts of the case have been unclear or fuzzy from the beginning, starting with the time that he left the house. I suspect that it was the witness statement of seeing Ariel at 11:25 that caused police to revisit the family's statement that he left at noon.

Would this have evolved differently with clear facts from the beginning, such as he left the house at 11AM, his parents had no knowledge about him visiting a friend that day, he would go near the river, there is no reason to doubt a witness who spoke with him at 11:25, there is footage of him going to the park, and there is no footage of him leaving the park. If accurate facts have been in place from the beginning, I think there would have been no top up to the reward money, and it's unlikely that 500 people would have marched in the streets with signs shouting his name.

It's a tragedy, but every year children drown in lakes and rivers for the simple reason that they underestimate the danger.

 

[cybervampira]

Update expected today in case of missing Montreal boy
https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/update-expected-today-in-case-of-missing-montreal-boy-1.3853661
An update is expected today in the case of a missing 10-year-old Montreal boy who vanished 10 days, police say.
Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou disappeared on March 12 after leaving for a friend's house.
Police divers spent Monday and Tuesday searching the waters of Riviere des Prairies, with investigators stating they have a credible witness placing Ariel near the waterfront at the time of his disappearance.
Frederic Kouakou, Ariel’s father, has repeatedly rejected the notion that his son may have fallen in the river. He believes his son was abducted.
"Since the very beginning we've thought it was a kidnapping because we're convinced our son would never go near the water," Kouakou said.
A $100,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to Ariel being found.

 

[GinaSeikwa]

I don’t think Ariel lied at all. I do think the adults around him were being less than truthful.

The impression I am getting more and more is that he may not have had as much supervision as we were led to believe and not just on this tragic day.

I hate that the facts were muddled from the beginning. If your child is missing you tell the police the facts as you know them. No covering up , no excuses. So I can’t get behind the poster above who stated it was understandable if the parents lied.

I’m anxious to hear what the police will state about this case later day. I’m completely in agreement that this was a tragic accident. Avoidable? I’ll wait to see what the police have to say. I only hope that Ariel did not suffer. I hope that the water was so cold that he was immediately rendered unconscious and he didn’t have the realization and terror of struggling to not drown. I hope they will be able to recover his body and give him a beautiful burial. I send his family and friends lots of strength to accept and come to terms with what may be.

 

[dyannaON]

Here is some MSM on Kaden Young from Ontario who is still missing. Details their search efforts and how difficult it is.

https://www.orangeville.com/news-st...n-led-search-for-kaden-young-losing-momentum/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitch...and-river-valley-swept-mothers-arms-1.4584850

Also Kaden needs to come home. If anyone has family or friends in the area please come help if you can.
Praying Ariel is found.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[otto]

I don’t think Ariel lied at all. I do think the adults around him were being less than truthful.

The impression I am getting more and more is that he may not have had as much supervision as we were led to believe and not just on this tragic day.

I hate that the facts were muddled from the beginning. If your child is missing you tell the police the facts as you know them. No covering up , no excuses. So I can’t get behind the poster above who stated it was understandable if the parents lied.

I’m anxious to hear what the police will state about this case later day. I’m completely in agreement that this was a tragic accident. Avoidable? I’ll wait to see what the police have to say. I only hope that Ariel did not suffer. I hope that the water was so cold that he was immediately rendered unconscious and he didn’t have the realization and terror of struggling to not drown. I hope they will be able to recover his body and give him a beautiful burial. I send his family and friends lots of strength to accept and come to terms with what may be.

Kidnapped children are not treated well, as we well know from contributing to this discussion forum. I have wondered why the family preferred to believe kidnapping, rather than drowning drowning in icy water, given that the latter is relatively painless and instant and the former would be terrifying. I understand that kidnapping perhaps allowed the family to cling to the belief that their child was alive for more than a week, although that is definitely not the norm with kidnappings.

Perhaps their grief interfered with memory, and a fear that police would not investigate led to a modification of facts. That said, it does not explain why the family wanted to question the witness who placed the child next to the waterfront on Monday morning, or why the family distrusted the police investigation.

 

[loveisthemovement]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/police-say-they-believe-missing-montreal-boy-drowned-1.3853661

"Montreal police say they believe a 10-year-old boy who has been missing for 10 days drowned in a river."

 

[otto]

A witness saw Ariel at the waterfront, and, although the father initially said that Ariel did not "say" he was going to the river, it is not clear why the father said that Ariel "never" went near the water. He was a normal 10 year old boy who lived next to a river. Surely he wasn't so sheltered that he never did anything without a parent holding his hand.

"Since the very beginning we've thought it was a kidnapping because we're convinced our son would never go near the water," Kouakou told reporters when his son was first reported missing.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/police-say-they-believe-missing-montreal-boy-drowned-1.3853661


"Ariel did not say that he was going near the water, he did say he had an invitation to visit a friend who was not at home.

"Kouakou said he didn't believe Ariel would go near the river.

"We never went near the water — I know my son," he said.

"Maybe he would have gone near the water if it was something we usually did. He is a soccer kid. He would go see his friend to play soccer. He was going to see his friend, and when he left home, he did not say he was going near the water."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-police-search-10-year-old-boy-missing-1.4575490

 

[Steelslady]

Kidnapped children are not treated well, as we well know from contributing to this discussion forum. I have wondered why the family preferred to believe kidnapping, rather than drowning drowning in icy water, given that the latter is relatively painless and instant and the former would be terrifying. I understand that kidnapping perhaps allowed the family to cling to the belief that their child was alive for more than a week, although that is definitely not the norm with kidnappings.

Perhaps their grief interfered with memory, and a fear that police would not investigate led to a modification of facts. That said, it does not explain why the family wanted to question the witness who placed the child next to the waterfront on Monday morning, or why the family distrusted the police investigation.

I probably have missed this but who are the house guests in their home and is it possible one of them could have harmed him? Was there anyone there that he could have been afraid of, and seeked safety from that person by going to his friend's house? It seems odd to me, that he wouldn't return home after finding out his friend wasn't at his house.

Was Ariel afraid to go home?

 

[freudianslip]

Ian Lafrenière, spokesperson for the SPVM:

http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1090811/disparition-ariel-jeffrey-kouakou-police-privilegie-noyade

The investigation is still ongoing.
LE can't say they are certain Ariel fell into the river, which is why the major crimes unit is still actively involved.
The witness and the footage confirm he was in the park, but there is no evidence he left.

He can't say with certainty, but an accident is the main theory LE are working on.

He thanks the population for helping with this massive search, alongside the tactical intervention squad, divers, sonars, the SQ, drones, mounted police, ATV, K9. An SQ profiler was also involved.

Regarding the father's press conference: He can't imagine being in the parents' shoes, he understands their need to hold on to the possibility their son is still alive.

He is putting out this information to guide the volunteers in their continued search for Ariel. There still is some hope something else happened to him, he stresses this investigation is not over, even though the likeliest possibility is that he fell into the river.

 

[kkdj]

A witness saw Ariel at the waterfront, and, although the father initially said that Ariel did not "say" he was going to the river, it is not clear why the father said that Ariel "never" went near the water. He was a normal 10 year old boy who lived next to a river. Surely he wasn't so sheltered that he never did anything without a parent holding his hand.

"Since the very beginning we've thought it was a kidnapping because we're convinced our son would never go near the water," Kouakou told reporters when his son was first reported missing.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/police-say-they-believe-missing-montreal-boy-drowned-1.3853661


"Ariel did not say that he was going near the water, he did say he had an invitation to visit a friend who was not at home.[/B]

"Kouakou said he didn't believe Ariel would go near the river.

"We never went near the water — I know my son," he said.

"Maybe he would have gone near the water if it was something we usually did. He is a soccer kid. He would go see his friend to play soccer. He was going to see his friend, and when he left home, he did not say he was going near the water."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-police-search-10-year-old-boy-missing-1.4575490

huh? Why would he have been invited if his friend wasn't home? Plus the friend's mom said they didn't know he was coming over.

 

[freudianslip]

A witness saw Ariel at the waterfront, and, although the father initially said that Ariel did not "say" he was going to the river, it is not clear why the father said that Ariel "never" went near the water. He was a normal 10 year old boy who lived next to a river. Surely he wasn't so sheltered that he never did anything without a parent holding his hand.

"Since the very beginning we've thought it was a kidnapping because we're convinced our son would never go near the water," Kouakou told reporters when his son was first reported missing.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/police-say-they-believe-missing-montreal-boy-drowned-1.3853661


"Ariel did not say that he was going near the water, he did say he had an invitation to visit a friend who was not at home.

"Kouakou said he didn't believe Ariel would go near the river.

"We never went near the water — I know my son," he said.

"Maybe he would have gone near the water if it was something we usually did. He is a soccer kid. He would go see his friend to play soccer. He was going to see his friend, and when he left home, he did not say he was going near the water."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-police-search-10-year-old-boy-missing-1.4575490

Denial is a very common and powerful defense mechanism against grief.

 

[sh80]

I probably have missed this but who are the house guests in their home and is it possible one of them could have harmed him? Was there anyone there that he could have been afraid of, and seeked safety from that person by going to his friend's house? It seems odd to me, that he wouldn't return home after finding out his friend wasn't at his house.

Was Ariel afraid to go home?

I don't think he was afraid to go home. He was probably bored, which is what led him out in the first place. His father had taken away his video games and he wanted to play.