Police are continuing their search around a Quebec City suburb after they issued an Amber Alert Thursday for two young girls and their 44-year-old father who investigators believe disappeared following a highway car crash.
Quebec provincial police spokeswoman Audrey-Anne Bilodeau said Friday police aren't ruling out anything in their search for Norah and Romy Carpentier, and their father, Martin Carpentier.
`All the hypotheses are on the table, and kidnapping is among them,'' Bilodeau said, ``but the priority for us is that we have missing people that could be injured.''
She said the father's motives remain unclear.
``We don't know his motivations,'' she said. ``Are they good? Are they bad? Is he simply injured badly and not able to call anyone? It's really hard to say right now, but our main concern is really trying to locate him and his two daughters.''
Police issued the Amber Alert Thursday afternoon for Norah, 11, and Romy, 6, from Levis, Que., south of Quebec City.
Investigators said they believe the three people were involved in a car crash and left the area on foot Wednesday night in St-Apollinaire, Que.
Bilodeau said the search is being concentrated around the Highway 20 crash site, in the Quebec City suburb.
``There's some other information that leads us to think that the people involved may be moving and still in this area,'' said Bilodeau.
She said police are asking nearby residents to check their properties, including sheds, barns and cottages. K-9 units have been deployed, Bilodeau added, and searches are also being carried out on foot and on ATVs.
Police said the father was last seen wearing a grey T-shirt and jeans and could be wearing glasses. They asking anyone with information about the three people's whereabouts to call 911.