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

[justice2962]

http://www.btmontreal.ca/videos/montreal-police-believe-missing-boy-fell-in-river-drowned/

Montreal Police believe missing boy fell in river, drowned
March 22, 2018
01:13
There’s been a major development in the case of a missing 10-year-old from Ahuntsic-Cartierville. Police say Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou likely fell in the river and drowned.

 

[eucalyptuz]

In the first reports about this case in the media the day after Ariel disappeared I think there was no exact mention of the time, in fact it seemed to suggest that the interval between him leaving home and being seen in the park was quick...something like:
"seen soon afterwards in a nearby park"
I don't remember where in the French or English press I read this but now, when you click on our earlier links in this thread most of the news reports have been updated in the last few days and now contain different text.
*This seems to be an infuriating habit more common in Canada than in other counties' media. Whole paragraphs are cut out of articles and info that was once there is removed...sometimes there's even a new title. This is really discouraging when you are trying to trace back the original text of a report because, unless it has been saved as a direct quote from the story on our threads, this initial details when a story first breaks are removed and replaced.

 

[eucalyptuz]

Generally speaking it's flat across and melted part is open once the spring comes.on like this. You can't always tell what is the river's edge and what is open water underneath. (I grew up on this river)

Hi ellabella,
Were the photos that you have posted taken at the park? It just seems that the ice banks shown in MSM of police searches seem way more treacherous and less defined as Ice over land : Ice over water than these photos suggest...

 

[Satchie]

Because he is a child, a precious child and things like this hardly ever happen in Montreal or Canada.

My heart breaks for this family. It’s utterly devastating.

I agree, young children rarely go missing in Canada, and with such complete uncertainty about what could have happened.

If they do go missing, they are usually found fairly quickly, whether the case is accident or foul play.

I think the river is the most likely circumstance, in part because only a river or other body of water in winter could hide someone for this long.

I hope spring comes on quickly and he is found.

 

[Phei]

http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2018/03/...vu-une-video-importante-recuperee-par-le-spvm

Father is saying the police have not shown him the video of Ariel at the park. He is surprised that the police reached a conclusion without asking him if he thinks it's his son in the video. He is confused as to why they did not show him the video.

Wondering if the police know it's foul play and are trying to make the person feel unguarded and safe to come out?

 

[aryastarcc]

Hi! I live very close to where Ariel disappeared and I think something nefarious happened. I live very close to the waterfront as well and I think there would be obvious signs if he fell into the river, as the snow and ice near the waterfront is very compacted and you'd have to go REALLY close to fall in. It's a possibility but I have a sister that age and I asked her if that's something her friends or herself would do, and she said it's generally known in between kids to not go near the water. We also had severe droughts last year and I wonder if that impacted Ariel as it could be a possible cause of him being afraid of water.
Also, as someone mentioned, there is a prison close to Cartierville and it's not exactly the safest borough of Montréal. I take the bus on Gouin and I feel pretty uncomfortable sometimes at night and even during day. I've been catcalled by sketchy looking individuals and I look around the age of 15/16 even if I'm in my early twenties. Something to keep in mind I guess, I really hope they looked at the nearby sex offenders list and I think that video was pretty troubling as well. Reminded me of walking at night on those nearby streets and sensing being followed.

 

[Phei]

That stone wall is just one example of that river's edge it definitely isn't all like that. In some areas it just looks like the rest of the ground. I actually know at least 2 adults who went through the ice this year. And many others were reported whom I didn't know.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Key word here is adults, would an 88 pound kid fall through ice? Would a kid want to destroy his soccer shoes that he loves so much in the snow? Would a kid who was thought to be afraid of the water approach the water? I can understand why some are doubtful of that theory, boredom makes kids do crazy things sometimes but I am questioning it.

 

[eucalyptuz]

http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2018/03/...vu-une-video-importante-recuperee-par-le-spvm

Father is saying the police have not shown him the video of Ariel at the park. He is surprised that the police reached a conclusion without asking him if he thinks it's his son in the video. He is confused as to why they did not show him the video.

Wondering if the police know it's foul play and are trying to make the person feel unguarded and safe to come out?

This is a good question. Although I am of the belief that Ariel probably did enter the water, the LE releases and press coverage today has been strange. Reports of "a major development" and "an new update" drawing attention to this afternoon's statement that things are pretty much the same as yesterday.
Tomorrow, if I get time, I will go have a look around the park and see if there are any obvious cameras that the family would not have known about. It makes me wonder if there is some other witness that has come forward with Ariel's image in the background of photos or video taken by a phone...

 

[lilac22]

Imo it seems like his friend going to daycare was very last minute, maybe his mother initially planned to leave her son home alone but changed her mind last minute, given the fact that she surely would have known that her daughters had school, while her son did not. If that is the case, is it possible that the two boys made plans under the assumption that they wouldn’t have any adult supervision for the day? Perhaps they had planned to go to the park and play soccer and explore, and when he knocked on the door to find his friend not there, he may have assumed that his friend was already at the park and had gone looking for him, and maybe fallen into the water in the process. Imo this would explain the lack of contact between the parents. Ariel may have told his parents that he’d already spoken to his friends parents and they said it was fine, because he knew they wouldn’t let him stay there alone. This could also be why he specifically asked to walk there alone, as someone accompanying him would reveal that his friend was unsupervised. meanwhile his friend doesn’t tell his mother that he’s coming over, and didn’t say that any plans had been made out of fear of getting in trouble.

 

[Satchie]

Imo it seems like his friend going to daycare was very last minute, maybe his mother initially planned to leave her son home alone but changed her mind last minute, given the fact that she surely would have known that her daughters had school, while her son did not. If that is the case, is it possible that the two boys made plans under the assumption that they wouldn’t have any adult supervision for the day? Perhaps they had planned to go to the park and play soccer and explore, and when he knocked on the door to find his friend not there, he may have assumed that his friend was already at the park and had gone looking for him, and maybe fallen into the water in the process. Imo this would explain the lack of contact between the parents. Ariel may have told his parents that he’d already spoken to his friends parents and they said it was fine, because he knew they wouldn’t let him stay there alone. This could also be why he specifically asked to walk there alone, as someone accompanying him would reveal that his friend was unsupervised. meanwhile his friend doesn’t tell his mother that he’s coming over, and didn’t say that any plans had been made out of fear of getting in trouble.

I wonder whether police have been able to question the friend without his mother in attendance. He probably needs private counselling, anyway.

It could be quite traumatic in later life for a boy to have a secret like that, and perhaps feel guilty that his friend disappeared and died as a result.

 

[otto]

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 know anything about the other people who were living at Ariel's house, only that it seems that they were looking after him while his parents were at work on the day he went into the river.

 

[otto]

At the risk of sounding like a crazy psychic lady.... on the day Ariel went missing at around the same time (11:00 am- 12:00 pm) I drove to a park near an area I used to live in; after dropping my boyfriend at work. It was years since I visited this spot. It was the park near the Henri bourassa metro station that borders the River. I drove there and sat in my car but instead of coming out and walking around I decided to stay in the car. It’s was really cold and there wasn’t a cleared pathway to walk through. I really regret it, to the point of guilt, because the next day the news of Ariel’s disappearance was aired. I know the spot is further away from where the search is being held, but the current in that river is pretty strong on the Laval side. I can’t help but wonder why police haven’t extended their search/dives further east. I hope this case is not forgotten and that police continue to put their heart in the search.

If Ariel went into the water, the current has long since carried him far away from where he went into the water. Searching at the location where the witness saw him at the waterfront is probably only done with the hope that a shoe or artifact belonging to him is in the location where he went into the water.

 

[otto]

This new information is HUGE! If the woman saw him a couple hours earlier in the park and they have video footage of him entering the park... why wasn't this shared with the media? Why hasn't that footage been shared? Why 2 pm and now 11:25 am? I really think that sadly he is in the river, I just don't understand all the confusion regarding the details.

I'm wondering who reported to media that a witness saw him at 2PM on Monday. According to the family, Ariel was at home until 12:15, but according to a credible witness, he was at the waterfront after learning that his friend was not home at 11:25. Did the family imagine the time of 2PM based on when they believed he left home?

 

[juli99]

I agree, young children rarely go missing in Canada, and with such complete uncertainty about what could have happened.

If they do go missing, they are usually found fairly quickly, whether the case is accident or foul play.

I think the river is the most likely circumstance, in part because only a river or other body of water in winter could hide someone for this long.

I hope spring comes on quickly and he is found.

I read a stat somewhere that 92 percent of missing children are found within a week. That makes this an unusual situation.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

 

[otto]

As I suspected: the family is unwilling to accept the very strong possibility that their son drowned even though police have witness and video evidence that Ariel was at the water front after learning that his friend was not at home.

Police will continue to search the river for a body after the snow melts, and they have asked the community to also look for signs of Ariel at the river's edge.

"For me, it is a kidnapping, an abduction,” Kouakou told reporters Thursday afternoon at a press conference.

Insp. Ian Lafreniere said police have every reason to believe Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou died after entering the Riviere des Prairie.
A police spokesperson told the Montreal Gazette Wednesday that they have footage that places Ariel in a park that borders the river. Police divers have scoured the waterway at least six times, but haven’t found any signs of the boy.

"We don't know that for a fact but we have all the reasons to believe this," Lafreniere told CTV Montreal, adding that they haven't come across any evidence that Ariel left the park.

However, Lafreniere stressed that the police force is not ending its search."

 

[Satchie]

If Ariel went into the water, the current has long since carried him far away from where he went into the water. Searching at the location where the witness saw him at the waterfront is probably only done with the hope that a shoe or artifact belonging to him is in the location where he went into the water.

This gave me chilling thoughts about how the Rivière des Prairies must feed into the St. Lawrence. I hope there's barriers along the way.

 

[Phei]

Imo it seems like his friend going to daycare was very last minute, maybe his mother initially planned to leave her son home alone but changed her mind last minute, given the fact that she surely would have known that her daughters had school, while her son did not. If that is the case, is it possible that the two boys made plans under the assumption that they wouldn’t have any adult supervision for the day? Perhaps they had planned to go to the park and play soccer and explore, and when he knocked on the door to find his friend not there, he may have assumed that his friend was already at the park and had gone looking for him, and maybe fallen into the water in the process. Imo this would explain the lack of contact between the parents. Ariel may have told his parents that he’d already spoken to his friends parents and they said it was fine, because he knew they wouldn’t let him stay there alone. This could also be why he specifically asked to walk there alone, as someone accompanying him would reveal that his friend was unsupervised. meanwhile his friend doesn’t tell his mother that he’s coming over, and didn’t say that any plans had been made out of fear of getting in trouble.

I've been questioning this since that interview, being part of the staff she surely would have known that her school was getting an extra ped day once march break ended, to mention at the last minute, well his sisters were in school so I decided to take him with me is so odd, it should have been planned in advance.

 

[freudianslip]

The original time frame was directly provided by the SPVM, if I recall correctly.
Sounds like the witness thaught she saw Ariel around 2pm, and some footage recovered afterwards shows him entering the park at 11:25

 

[otto]

This gave me chilling thoughts about how the Rivière des Prairies must feed into the St. Lawrence. I hope there's barriers along the way.

I skimmed an article yesterday and there was something about water barriers for the body. Maybe someone local knows whether the power station is down stream from the park where Ariel was last seen.

 

[lilac22]

Given how close the school is to their house i really think she was planning on leaving him alone because hey, if he has any problems, he could just come and get her. I think it’s likely she’d just never left him alone before and got cold feet last minute and decided to take him, because it literally makes 0 sense that she wouldn’t have known her daughters wouldn’t be there to watch him.