Search intensifies for missing Quebec father

Quebec provincial police deployed in large numbers southwest of Quebec City Friday, the ninth day of the manhunt for the father of two young girls found dead last weekend.

Sgt. Helene Nepton said authorities are searching the St-Apollinaire area on foot with the help of dog handlers, ATVs and Wildlife Department officers in the search for Martin Carpentier.

Cabin and outbuilding owners are being asked to call 911 to facilitate police searches.

"The goal of this deployment is to search for new hints and secure properties," the force said in a Twitter message.

The 44-year-old suspect's two daughters, Norah and Romy Carpentier, aged 11 and 6, were found dead Saturday following an Amber Alert.

Nepton said the search has intensified since police reported Thursday Carpentier had allegedly stolen items from a trailer within the search perimeter.

Police believe Carpentier may be desperate and try to enter barns, trailers and cabins looking for materials to help him survive.

Owners are asked to have a police escort to search their buildings, but Nepton said there's no indication Carpentier is violent or poses a danger to the public.

Nine days into the search, she said there's also a chance he is unconscious or dead.

Investigators have said the girls and their father were believed to have been in a serious car crash on Highway 20 in the Quebec City suburb of St-Apollinaire July 8, but there was nobody inside the vehicle when they arrived on scene.

An Amber Alert was issued July 9 but cancelled two days later after the bodies were found.

Autopsies were performed on the two girls, but police said they won't reveal the cause of death until Carpentier is found.

Their funeral is scheduled for Monday in Levis, south of Quebec City.