Madison Roy-Boudreau now deemed a homicide victim, and police have identified suspect

The disappearance of a 14-year-old girl in Bathurst is now being treated as a homicide case, police say.

Police also have identified a primary suspect in the homicide of Madison Roy-Boudreau, Bathurst Chief Stéphane Roy said in a video statement Wednesday afternoon.

As the case is under investigation, the suspect cannot be named, Roy said. No one has been charged in Roy-Boudreau's death.

The teen was last seen May 11 at around 7:30 a.m. as she was walking to her school bus stop near her home in Bathurst.

Roy said police have determined she got into a grey Ford Ranger pickup truck, which is now in the possession of the Bathurst Police Force.

"This is a major incident that is shaking the core of this community," the chief said. "In addition we have and are currently deploying exhaustive resources in our efforts to locate Madison."

Roy described the efforts police have conducted so far in looking for Roy-Boudreau, including the search of a quarry in Bathurst, aerial searches using an RCMP helicopter, the use of RCMP service dogs, and the RCMP underwater recovery team, which is involved in the search of waterways in Middle River, a rural community southwest of Bathurst.

"The RCMP tactical support group ground search team are involved with searches of numerous identified sites in the Middle River area," Roy said. "These searches have led to obtaining additional evidence, which are currently being processed.

"Our thoughts are with Madison's family and friends as we continue our efforts. We continue to ask the public to provide any information pertaining to Madison Roy-Boudreau and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance."

CBC News asked Bathurst police for more information about the evidence that has been recovered so far but has not received a response.

At a news conference on May 27, Roy went through a timeline of the search for Roy-Boudreau, which included mention of the arrest of 42-year-old Steven Laurette of South Tetagouche, a small community west of Bathurst.

Roy declined to say why Laurette was mentioned or whether he's a person of interest in the case or the owner of the grey pickup truck.

On May 14, Laurette appeared in court and was charged with failing to abide by a court undertaking between May 10 and 11 in Bathurst. He's accused of breaching the condition that he not be in the presence of females under the age of 18 unless he is accompanied by someone over 18 who is "aware of the present investigation." 

The present investigation centres on sexual assault allegations involving a complainant under the age of 16. 

According to court records, Laurette was charged in September 2019 with sexual assault and sexual interference. The latter offence, according to the Criminal Code, applies to, "every person who, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years."