A three-year-old Quebec girl missing since Sunday has been found alive in Ontario following a frantic search spanning four days and two provinces.
Authorities in Quebec say Claire Bell was spotted all alone by an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) drone on the side of route 417 in the St. Albert region shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Her discovery comes hours after police said they were looking to speak to a woman who lived and worked on a farm who they believe met the child’s mother: 34-year-old Rachel-Ella Todd.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) Sgt. Éloïse Cossette told reporters the girl was conscious and able to speak with officers, but there was no immediate word on her physical condition. She received food, hydration and was taken to a nearby hospital to be examined by medical personnel as a precaution.
“This makes us extremely emotional as police officers,” said OPP Acting Staff Sergeant, Shaun Cameron, at a joint press conference in St. Albert Wednesday evening with the SQ. “Most of us are parents with kids of our own.”
SQ officer Capt. Benoit Richard told reporters, “It’s days like this that you are reminded why you became an officer.”
Both forces thanked the search teams of over 250 people that worked around the clock for their tireless efforts in finding the girl.
“Given her age, every hour mattered,” Richard said.
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Officers would not comment on the ongoing investigation into the circumstances around the case, whose custody the girl is in, what she was wearing when she was found or how they believe she survived in the heat.
“We also want to thank all the civilians for their tips and posts to social media,” Richard added. “Information from the public was critical.”
Quebec Premier François Legault described the girl’s safe return as “almost a miracle,” and thanked police as well as members of the public who helped.
Todd was arrested and charged Tuesday with unlawful abandonment of a child after she reported her daughter as missing Sunday in Coteau-du-Lac, Que., about 50 km west of where she was last seen in Montreal’s LaSalle borough. The child had last been seen around 9:45 a.m. on Newman Boulevard.
Authorities said hours later, Todd parked her SUV outside a store in Coteau-du-Lac, went inside and told staff she couldn’t find her daughter.
After days of searching, investigators got a major clue earlier Wednesday. Investigators in Quebec were able to establish that the girl and her mother had been spotted alive about 2 p.m. in the Casselman and St. Albert area on Sunday.
Police sought the public’s help to figure out where Todd was that day between 2 p.m. and her return to Quebec around 3:30 p.m.
Helicopters, drones and tracking dogs were used in the search.
On Tuesday, the SQ had asked people to be on the lookout for a long-haired chihuahua with reddish-brown fur, who might have been with the girl. Hours later a dog resembling the family’s chihuahua had been found dead near the junction of highways 20 and 30 near Montreal.
The circumstances of the girl’s disappearance were described as “not very clear” by officers.
Todd briefly appeared in court via video conference from a police station in Vaudreuil Tuesday before being detained at the Leclerc prison in Laval. She looked right at the camera, nodded and seemed to understand where she was and the charge.
Crown prosecutor Lili Prévost Gravel told reporters she opposed the accused’s release due to the seriousness of the charge.
On Wednesday, Todd was back in court in shackles at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Courthouse as the judge postponed her case to Friday, at which point a decision will be taken on a bail hearing.
The Crown previously said no psych evaluation had been requested for Todd and not much was yet known about her mental state.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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Missing 3-year-old Quebec child found alive, spotted by drone in Ontario -
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Missing 3-year-old Quebec child found alive, spotted by drone in Ontario -
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Montreal mother of missing 3-year-old Claire Bell in custody -
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Missing Quebec child: Police scrambling to find toddler who vanished in Montreal -
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Global News at 5:30 Montreal: June 18 -
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Global News at 5:30 Montreal: June 17
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