The body discovered near the marina on Saint-Quentin Island in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, on the morning of October 8, has been identified as 21-year-old Alexandra Martine Diengo Lumbayi, a Congolese student who had been missing.
Lumbayi, a student at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, was last seen on the island on the afternoon of October 2, 2024. Local police reported that her body was found in the St. Maurice River by a kayaker around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, situated between the property of Kruger Wayagamack Inc. and the marina. The coroner confirmed Lumbayi’s identity later that afternoon, according to Radio-Canada.
Her mother, Rosemine Ndjondo, who resides in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, reported her daughter missing after several days without contact. Ndjondo shared a heartfelt video on TikTok over the weekend, raising alarms about Lumbayi’s disappearance and seeking assistance.
“I haven’t been drinking, I’m not eating, I’m not sleeping. I don’t even know how to close my eyes anymore or how to live,” Ndjondo said tearfully in the video.
Provincial police had been conducting searches for Lumbayi since Friday and are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death. Students and members of the Congolese, Cameroonian, and Senegalese communities joined the search efforts, actively participating on the island on Tuesday morning.
Following the recovery of her daughter’s body, Ndjondo expressed her sorrow, stating, “Alexandra was my only daughter; I had her when I was 17, and her father denied the pregnancy, so I struggled to raise her alone. I was chased away by my parents and abandoned by her father. I raised my daughter as both her mother and father.”
“I sent her to the best schools in Cameroon, South Africa, and Canada while I faced hardships. But at the age of 21, she has left me. My daughter was my best friend, my treasure. What will my life be without her?”
