The father of a missing 10-year-old boy says he still believes his son was abducted despite Montreal police revealing Thursday that they think the child drowned in a river near his home.
Frederic Kouakou, Ariel鈥檚 father, said he 鈥渄eeply respects鈥� the police investigation, but wants officers to continue to pursue the theory that his son was kidnapped.
鈥淔or me, it is a kidnapping, an abduction,鈥� 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 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鈥檛 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.
"We're not trying to recover a body, it's more than that. It's a full investigation," he said.
Kouakou said he hasn鈥檛 seen the footage of his son entering the park and was upset to learn about it in the newspaper. He added he hopes that if police have footage of his son that he hasn鈥檛 seen, that they will show it to him.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 asked the police to see it, but I said I should be the first to see that video before putting it in the newspapers,鈥� he said.
Still he maintained he does trust the police.
鈥淭he police have their theories. I have said this already, they are working on different paths ... Everything is to be taken into consideration. That is what investigators tell me every day. That makes me confident in what they鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Ariel鈥檚 disappearance has been torturous for the family, Kouakou said. He described his wife as 鈥渂roken鈥� and said Ariel鈥檚 little sister doesn鈥檛 understand why her brother doesn鈥檛 get picked up after school when she leaves daycare.
鈥淪he asked me, 鈥榃here鈥檚 Ariel? Is he here? Is he here?鈥欌�� Kouakou said.
Despite the police theory that Ariel drowned, the search party won鈥檛 stop. Ariel鈥檚 father begged for more volunteers to come out and help search for his son.
鈥淒on鈥檛 give up. Please. Please. I want you to come with us,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, Lafreniere said the police force has no suggestion that Ariel was kidnapped, but he understands why the family is clinging to hope that he's alive.
"As a father myself, it's hard to believe Ariel just disappeared like that," he said.
He also acknowledged that police had erred when initially reporting the timeline of the disappearance, after saying Ariel had last been seen around 2:30 p.m. on March 12. Instead, Ariel had actually last been seen by a witness in the park at about 11:25 a.m.
"This is really our fault, I'm talking about the communication side," he said.
The search for Ariel had sparked immense support from the local community, with rewards up to $100,000 offered for his return, as well as more than 500 volunteers taking part in searches and door-to-door questioning.
Police say they are still urging the public to call 911 if they have any tips about Ariel and his disappearance.
With a report from CTV Montreal
