Charges are expected to be laid soon in the slaying of 12-year-old Nova Scotia girl Karissa Boudreau, the town's police chief said Wednesday.
Bridgewater Police Chief Brent Crowhurst confirmed for the first time that investigators are awaiting the results of DNA testing.
Questions continue to abound about who killed the schoolgirl, but Crowhurst said he won't be sharing any details of the investigation at a town hall meeting Wednesday night.
"I have no doubt that members of the community will want to know if there are recent developments in the ongoing joint forces investigation concerning the missing child," Crowhurst said.
"We, of course, are not able to talk specifically (on) any operational files and we will make that well known at the beginning of the meeting ... it just wouldn't be appropriate at this stage."
Karissa was reported missing in late January.
Her mother, Penny Boudreau, said they'd been arguing and that she left Karissa in the car of a supermarket parking lot while she went in to pick a few items.
Penny Boudreau said that her daughter was gone by the time she returned.
About two weeks later, on Feb. 9, Karissa's body was found near a river outside Bridgewater.
Police said they were treating her death as a homicide after an autopsy was performed.
About a month-and-a-half after she went missing, no charges have been laid.
The police chief insists the investigation is moving forward but admits there is much work to do.
"There's a lot of exhibits that had to be examined and it's taking a long time to get them done," Crowhurst said, adding that the interviewing process is another one of the hold-ups.
"Our investigators have interviewed literally hundreds of people any potential witnesses have to be tracked down and talked to," he said.
In the days after Karissa's body was found, police arrested and released two suspects.
While they told the tight-knit community to be vigilant, police also said that they were treating Karissa's murder as an isolated incident.
With a report from CTV Atlantic's Elizabeth Chiu
