Quebec provincial police say there have been several sightings of a missing Cedrika Provencher, which has them thinking she could yet be found alive.

"What we have now is information to the effect that she was seen in different locations, principally in eastern Quebec," police spokesman Richard Gagne told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.

"We are in the process of looking into this information to attempt to locate the young girl. The information is credible and that's the reason we believe she is still alive."

Authorities believe the nine-year-old Trois Rivieres girl disappeared on July 31, shortly after she was approached by a man requesting help to search for his dog.

The new information has provided a renewed sense of hope for the Provencher family, who has always maintained Cedrika is alive.

"It's a relief, it's balm for the soul,'' Martin Provencher told CP on Wednesday.

"It does you good sometimes to hear those kinds of comments,'' he said.

"It's good because these are professionals who are working on the ground and with experience working cases like this.''

A team of 20 investigators have probed more than 1,000 of the 3,000 tips received by police in the past three weeks.

Provencher has spearheaded a civilian-volunteer search for his daughter that includes plastering posters of her smiling freckled-face throughout the community.

"We're starting to get tired,'' Provencher said from an old bank where the family is organizing its search efforts.

"But there is nothing that can stop us.''

Police also revealed Wednesday that another young girl has recently come forward to police in Trois-Rivieres, Que., saying she was approached by a man looking for a lost dog.

This latest report brings the total number of girls who told authorities they were approached by a stranger in the same manner and area to four.

"It will help the total package of information so we can try to create a police sketch or provide a more precise physical description (of the suspect)," Gagne said. "But it's too soon for that for the moment."

An $80,000 reward has been issued for any information that could lead to Cedrika's whereabouts.

The Missing Children's Network will meet with Cedrika's family on Friday in Trois-Rivieres, spokesperson Pina Arcamone told CP.

The group is distributing Cedrika's photo outside of Quebec and within Europe.

Arcamone told CP that there is still reason to believe Cedrika is alive.

"There's absolutely no reason to think the worst just yet,'' Arcamone said."We need to encourage the public to be on the look out.

"If this is the case, the family has reason to be feeling cautiously optimistic, but if it doesn't pan out it's like losing her all over again."

Psychologists will be on hand at Cedrika's elementary school to provide support for students when classes begin next week.

With files CTV's Tania Krywiak and from The Canadian Press