For the parents of Geeti, Sahar and Zainab Shafi, the unthinkable has happened.
The bodies of the three girls were found three days ago in a submerged Nissan in the Kingston Mills locks. The body of their 50-year-old aunt, Rona Amir Mohammed was also found in the car.
The family moved to Canada two years ago so their seven children could gain citizenship, and hopefully, go to school, start businesses and buy homes. They are originally from Afghanistan. They now live in St. Leonard.
"I came to Canada for my children. Because Afghanistan was not safe...but here..." said the girls' mother, Tobba Yahya, before breaking down into tears.
Police continue to investigate. On Friday they were looking at surveillance tapes from two nearby gas bars.
Joy ride gone wrong?
However, the girls' father Mohammed Shafi thinks it was a joy ride gone wrong.
The family had gone for a vacation in two cars to Niagara Falls. On their way back they stopped to spend the night in a motel in Kingston, and when they woke up one of the cars was missing. The family didn't realize anything was wrong until they were contacted by police.
At the motel that night Zainab told her mother she needed the car keys because she left some clothes in the car, her father said.
He says Zainab was known as the rebellious one in the family. She often tried to take the car and drive at night to impress friends, even though she did not have a license.
He believes Zainab took the car, along with her sisters and their aunt, and the result was just a freak accident. None of the girls knew how to swim.
On Tuesday morning, a Parks Canada employee discovered the car, which was submerged in about three metres of water, about 10 metres north of a canal lock.
Police are not clear as to how the car ended up in the canal, as there are no obvious tire tracks to follow, and the car would had to have passed through several barriers to make it into the water.
It is believed that the car likely ended up in the canal sometime Tuesday, between midnight and mid-morning.
With files from CTV.ca
