Thérèse Gauvreau memorial walk draws crowd in support of family

As many as a thousand people joined a walk in Gatineau Sunday afternoon to show support for a well-known local family dealing with tragedy.

Thérèse Gauvreau, 83, was found dead inside her home on Boulevard de la Cité-des-jeunes in the Hull district on Wednesday.

She was part of a family that runs several businesses in the Outaouais area and has deep community ties, along with a decades-long career at the Pierre-Janet psychiatric hospital in Gatineau.

Jean-François Dupuis, age 21, has been charged with second-degree murder and was ordered on Thursday to undergo a psychiatric assessment to see if he's mentally fit to stand trial.

Sunday's memorial walk started at the Collette Arena in Hull and ended nearby at Gauvreau's home, where the crowd released 83 white balloons to match her age, along with green balloons for mental health.

Gatineau police said there could have been as many as a thousand people taking part at its peak.

"So many people know them. They've been generous to a lot of people, you can tell by the number of people who are here to support them," said Marjorie Burke, who said she's known Thérèse's daughter at least 30 years.

Internal investigation launched

"Everybody is very sensitive, everybody is joining behind this family that's very well-known, this lady that was loved by all the neighbours," said former Gatineau mayor Yves Ducharme before the walk.

Gatineau police have launched an internal investigation to find out why it took about half an hour from the time a nearby neighbour called police to report a man ramming his window with a block of wood to the time police arrived to find a suspect and Gauvreau's body.

On Sunday, Gatineau councillor Louise Boudrias said she'll introduce a motion at Tuesday's council meeting to launch an external review of the response as well.