Cops claim mum was making unsettling searches before 3yo missing
Claire Bell, 3, was discovered on an Ontario highway, in Canada, on Wednesday afternoon, some 145km west of her home in Montreal, Sûreté du Quebec, the provincial police, said.
The toddler was seen Sunday morning leaving an emergency exit of her apartment building in Montreal's La Salle region with her mother, Rachel Todd, and her pet chihuahua, according to Le Journal de Montreal.
Her mother reported Bell missing later in the day in Coteau-du-Lac, about 97km away from where she was last seen, New York Post reported.
A large-scale 'frantic' search was then carried out in Quebec and Ontario following the missing report, according to CTV.
Hundreds of police and civilians went searching for the missing tot, according to the Montreal Gazette.
Bell was found wandering alone on the side of Highway 417 in Ontario after a drone search was deployed over a witness tip, the outlet said.
A chihuahua that matched the description of one believed to be with Bell when she was last seen was found dead close to the souvenir shop where Todd reported her daughter missing.
Cops are now searching for an important witness who may have more information about what happened in the hours between when Bell was last seen and reported missing by her mother, the outlet reported.
The witness is a woman who lives on a farm either in the Montérégie region or in Ontario, speaks English and French, and had met the missing girl's mother on Sunday between when she was last seen and reported missing.
Todd, 34, was arrested and charged with child abandonment, according to the outlet.
Investigators allegedly found alarming online searches, including funeral arrangements and children's urns, when they looked through Todd's phone after her arrest, Le Journal de Montreal reported.
'This story really, really doesn't look good,' a police source working on the case told the outlet.
Court proceedings for Todd have been delayed until Friday, the Gazette said.
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