Montreal police looking for 10-year-old boy canvass neighbourhoods after Amber Alert lifted

Montreal police are using a different strategy in hopes of finding a 10-year-old boy who went missing from Ahuntsic-Cartierville on Monday and was the subject of an Amber Alert until it was lifted late the next day.

Officers are now canvassing the area and surrounding neighbourhoods in search of Ariel Jeffrey Kouakou, said Insp. André Durocher.

"Nothing is impossible. We can't exclude anything," Durocher said. "The worst thing we could do is to exclude any possibility." 

Ariel was last seen when he left home to meet a friend around noon Monday.

Police say the case did not meet all the criteria to extend the Amber Alert issued Tuesday afternoon.

Police are also asking anyone with information about Ariel's disappearance to come to their temporary command post set up outside police Station 10 at 11756 O'Brien Blvd.

Here are details about Ariel, who speaks French:

• About four-foot-seven, weighing 88 pounds.
• Dark hair and dark eyes.
• Was last seen wearing a black coat with a hood, grey pants and yellow shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact 911.

Alert was an 'exceptional measure'

Amber Alerts are usually issued only when a child has gone missing, is believed to have been abducted and be in danger, and when police have information that might help locate them.

This is the first time the Montreal police have issued an alert without meeting those conditions. 

Montreal police have been searching Ahuntsic-Cartierville for Ariel. (Radio-Canada)

Durocher said the alert was an "exceptional measure given that it was almost 24 hours since the boy disappeared and that we heard absolutely nothing."

"Was it the most appropriate measure? Listen, that's not our worry for the moment," he said. "Our preoccupation is to find the young boy."

The Amber Alert led police to speak to a woman who reportedly saw Ariel near Parc des Bateliers, which is two minutes from his home and borders the Rivière des Prairies, but Durocher said the investigation continues.

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