Quebec police believe to have found bodies of missing Quebec businessman and son

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MONTREAL — After days of aerial searches over thick forests in the upper Laurentians, provincial police said Thursday they believe they have found the bodies of a Quebec businessman and his teenage son who went missing two weeks ago.

Stephane Roy and his 14-year-old son Justin were reported missing on July 11 after failing to return home from a fishing trip in Lac de la Bidiere, a remote area west of La Tuque, Que. They were aboard Roy’s Robinson R44 helicopter.

Provincial police announced in a tweet that crew aboard a police helicopter located an aircraft in an area around Lac Valtrie, about 230 kilometres north of Montreal. Less than an hour later, the force tweeted that officers found two bodies at the site, which they believe to be Roy and his son.

“Unfortunately, the team deployed in the field found two dead people,” the police said. “All indications are that they are the two occupants of the aircraft …. The investigation into the circumstances of the event is underway. A formal identification will follow.”

Roy is the founder and owner of Les Serres Sagami Inc., which produces greenhouse-grown tomatoes under the Savoura brand. A spokesman for the company, Andre Michaud, said the Roy family would like to thank everyone who helped in the search operations.

“The family is extremely grateful for all the efforts that encouraged them to continue, to achieve today’s results,” Michaud said in an interview. “The greatest achievement of Mr. Roy is his little boy, Justin, who, unfortunately, was swept away by this unfortunate incident.”

Family members had gathered Thursday at Roy’s home in Ste-Sophie, Que., about 80 kilometres north of Montreal, after police reported the discovery of what they believed to be Roy’s helicopter.

The aircraft was located about 80 kilometres southeast of Lac de la Bidiere, where Roy and his son had departed to return home July 10. The family reported the two missing the following day.

More than 90 people with the air force, the Canadian Coast Guard and other rescue services had searched for the pair since they went missing. The initial search area was about was about 20,000 square kilometres, in a densely, wooded area.

The Royal Canadian Air Force ended its search operations last weekend and transferred the case to the provincial police.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault reacted to Thursday’s news on Twitter, thanking all those who took part in the search.

“In the name of all our government, I want to offer my most sincere condolences to the family, to loved ones and to all the employees of Savoura,” he said. “All of Quebec is behind you at this difficult time.”