Mother of missing 3-year-old Montreal girl arrested

CTV News

5 hours ago

Claire Bell was last seen on June 14 near Newman Boulevard in Montreal's LaSalle borough. (Handout/Sûreté du Québec)
The mother of a three-year-old girl missing since Sunday from Montreal's LaSalle borough has been arrested.
According to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), she has been charged with child abandonment and appeared in court overnight.
She is expected to appear again during the day.
Claire Bell, 3, was last seen on Sunday at 9:45 a.m. near Newman Boulevard in Montreal's LaSalle borough.
She was reported missing by her mother at 3:30 p.m. in Coteau-du-Lac in the Montérégie region.
Jean-Raphaël Drolet, a spokesperson with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), explained the mother 'came [into a store] to say that they didn't have the child anymore, that they lost her; they didn't know where she was.'
In response, the SQ deployed helicopters, drones and ground search crews in the search for Bell.
At 2 p.m. Monday, the force confirmed it found a dead dog on the side of Highway 30 in Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of Montreal.
Officers say the dog matches the description of the brown, long-haired chihuahua belonging to the missing toddler.
Bell is described as 0.90 m (3 ft) in height and 16 kg (35 lb) in weight.
She has brown hair and brown eyes. She speaks English.
She was last seen wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a pink collar, gray pants and no shoes.
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