Hours after an Amber Alert was issued across Ontario for a missing 11-month-old girl in Ottawa, police say the child was found safe and a 70-year-old woman was charged in connection with the alleged abduction.
Ontario Provincial Police cancelled the alert just before 9:30 a.m. after Ottawa police representatives said the child was found “safe and sound” by the emergency services unit (ESU).
In an update released Friday afternoon, investigators alleged a woman who wasn’t known to the baby or her mother took the child at around 11:15 p.m. on Thursday.
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The mother, who is visiting Ottawa from Nunavut and staying in the city’s west end near Pinecrest Road and Carling Avenue, reportedly called police and various units were dispatched to the neighbourhood.
At the request of Ottawa police, the OPP issued an Amber Alert at around 3:50 a.m.
More than four-and-a-half hours later, the statement said an ESU officer found someone who was identified as a potential witness. They, in turn, reportedly led police to an apartment building west of the intersection.
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“When officers arrived at the unit, they heard a baby crying inside. The officers entered the apartment and located the missing girl,” the statement said.
The update said the child, who has an undisclosed medical condition, was taken to an Ottawa hospital by paramedics to be examined.
Investigators said the accused was charged with kidnapping, person in charge not providing the necessaries of life, obstructing a peace officer and aggravated assault. The unidentified suspect was set to appear in an Ottawa court on Friday.
— With files from Gabby Rodrigues