Montreal police have revealed that they located the remains of 10-year-old Jolene Riendeau last September but kept the discovery quiet until late last week.
Jolene went missing from her Montreal neighbhourhood in April 1999. She was last seen walking to a corner store down the street from her home.
On Sept. 9, 2010, a passerby led police to her remains under the Champlain Bridge in Montreal's southern end. It took them nearly a month to establish it was Jolene.
According to a family friend, even Jolene's parents were unaware of the discovery until last week. On Monday, they were brought to the site and left flowers in memory of their daughter.
Pina Arcamone, director of the Missing Children's Network, said that Jolene's father had been driving by the site every day, unknowingly.
Arcamone was also told by investigators that initially they didn't know when the body had been placed under the bridge and sent the body to the coroner's office to be analyzed for evidence.
Police have said they're treating Jolene's death as a homicide. But they remained tight-lipped on Monday when asked by journalists about the reasons for the secrecy.
Montreal police Sgt. Ian Lafreniere said the decision was based on operational factors.
"We kept a lot of information secret for ourselves because of the investigation," he told The Canadian Press.
Police went public with the discovery last week in the hopes that members of the public can help shed new light on the case.
The area where Jolene's body was discovered is near a paved path frequented by joggers and cyclists.
There are also a number of graffiti tags beneath the bridge. According to Steve Roberts, a retired detective who worked on Jolene's case, police will be looking to speak with graffiti artists in the area to see whether they noticed anything unusual.
Police arrested a 47-year-old man on Friday in connection with the investigation. The man was later released without being charged, but Lafreniere said he remains a suspect.
"It's not over," he said. "We're still working on the case and we hope to bring him back to justice."
A tip from a witness "could make a difference between a suspect who was questioned and released -- and a suspect who will finish his days in prison," Lafreniere said.
Jolene's funeral service is scheduled to take place on Friday at a church in the neighbourhood where she grew up.
With a report from CTV Montreal's Catherine Sheriffs and files from The Canadian Press
