BRIDGEWATER — Three months after Karissa Boudreau’s frozen body was found on the bank of the LaHave River, police say they remain confident about the murder investigation despite having made no arrests in the case.

There has been little word in recent weeks about the probe into the 12 year old’s death. Investigators continue to work on aspects of the investigation, while awaiting lab results from exhibits and DNA analysis.

“The members are still moving forward with the case and feel confident that they’re hopefully going to be able to bring it to a conclusion at some point in time, but we can’t put a timeline on it,” RCMP spokesman Sgt. Mark Gallagher said Friday.

Preliminary lab results have come back, among them confirmation that DNA samples can be lifted for testing.

Investigators must now wait for more detailed reports. Sgt. Gallagher could not say how long that will take.

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“It could be a month from now. It could be a little bit longer,” he said. “There’s only one way to do an investigation and that’s to do it right and not be rushed into something and not to take any shortcuts.”

Meanwhile, he added, investigators are still working on other aspects of the case.

“To get into the exact details, we can’t get into, because obviously what they’re doing is evidentiary in nature,” Sgt. Gallagher said.

Police continue to maintain regular contact with Karissa’s family to keep them up to date with the investigation.

Bridgewater Police and the RCMP are jointly probing the homicide. Karissa was living in Bridgewater with her mother, Penny Boudreau, and her mother’s boyfriend, Vernon MacCumber, at the time of her death.

Her mother reported her missing on January 27, telling police she’d last seen her daughter when she left her in a car outside the Sobeys store following an argument.

For two weeks, a full-scale missing person investigation turned up no trace of Karissa. Then on February 9, a passerby discovered the girl’s body in the snow down over the riverbank off Highway 331 just outside town in Conquerall Bank.

Police have not revealed how or when Karissa died, but have repeatedly said the girl’s death was not a random killing.

Investigators questioned two suspects in February, but released them after 24 hours without laying charges. Police have never identified the pair, but said they were residents of Bridgewater who knew Karissa.

posted on 05/09/08