The parents of Cedrika Provencher are offering a reward in the search for their daughter and have enlisted a prominent Quebec crime journalist to help ferret out information.

Claude Poirier, known as the "The Negotiator," has offered to maintain the 24-hour phone line for the parents at 514-730-3940.

"If we receive precise information, I will be responsible for keeping the person anonymous," he said Monday in Trois Rivieres. "No one will ever know who received this money. What is important is to get the little girl back."

He emphasized that the Quebec police force is not involved in either the phone line or the reward money. The parents are offering $80,000.

"I don't want to be cornered by the (Surete du Quebec)," he said. "I've warned them. If I get information that leads to (Cedrika's) recovery, I'll personally give them the $80,000."

Calls to the phone will not be recorded, Poirier said. "If I am told to meet someone, I will not be followed," he added.

Poirier's daily morning TV call-in show is called "The Real Negotiator." The show is broadcast on LCN, a French-language all-news network. He has mediated between criminals and the police before, leading to more than 175 offenders turning themselves in.

"He is a neutral person who can help us, who can negotiate with someone with information," said Cedrika's mother, Karine Fortier.

Police say that Poirier's approach isn't working at cross-purposes with their own. "We cannot deny that any help to find Cedrika is more than welcome," said Francois Dore, a Surete du Quebec spokesman.

Nine-year-old Cedrika went missing from Trois-Rivieres on July 31. Witnesses have told police that Cedrika was helping a man search for a lost dog before she disappeared. Since then, police have received more than 3,000 tips.

Last week, police said a girl matching Cedrika's appearance was seen in a Chandler, Que. restaurant five days after she went missing. The girl, who seemed timid, was dressed in over-sized clothing and sat with a man.

"The information was very precise and detailed," Sgt. Chantal Mackels, a Quebec provincial police spokesperson, told The Canadian Press.

On Wednesday, Cedrika will turn 10. Her friends will be returning to school.

"You celebrate your birthday with your family," said her father, Martin Provencher. "I can't imagine not having her on her birthday." 

With a report from CTV Montreal's Daniele Hamamdjian and files from The Canadian Press