Missing three-year-old Montreal girl found alive in Ontario, Quebec police say
A three-year-old Montreal girl reported missing on Sunday by her mother was found alive in eastern Ontario on Wednesday afternoon, minutes after her mother appeared in court while facing charges of child abandonment.
The Sûreté du Québec and Ontario Provincial Police confirmed in a Wednesday evening press conference that the girl was found around 3 p.m. along Highway 417, near St. Albert, Ont. She was alone but conscious and able to speak with officers, and is now doing 'well' after being examined by a medical team in hospital, OPP Staff Sergeant Shaun Cameron said.
Ontario police used a drone to spot the little girl after receiving reports that she and her mother, 34-year-old Rachel-Ella Todd, were seen earlier in nearby Casselman, Ont. on Sunday. Officers following the drone reached the girl soon after.
It was a moment of elation for the forces who had been searching tirelessly since Sunday. Around 150 Sûreté du Québec officers, as well as trained volunteers, were combing the Montérégie region, near where Ms. Todd walked into a souvenir store on Sunday afternoon and told employees she had lost her daughter.
'This is why we become police,' Staff Sgt. Cameron said.
Many questions remain about the circumstances around the girl's alleged abandonment and whether she has been on her own since Sunday afternoon, but police declined to comment on an active investigation.
Ms. Todd remained in custody Wednesday after appearing in a court in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que., wearing a purple T-shirt and handcuffs on her hands and feet. She was arrested on Monday and charged with unlawful abandonment of a child.
Prosecutors have objected to her release on the grounds that she poses a danger to the public. Because evidence continues to come in, a possible bail hearing won't be discussed until her next court date on Friday.
The accused does not have a criminal record.
The alleged offence took place Sunday in Quebec or Ontario, according to the charging document.
Shortly before, Ms. Todd posted a disturbing TikTok video while holding the girl: 'You try that again, and this is going to get ugly,' she said, visibly angry. A caption read, 'Have you ever faced a mother who has nothing left to lose?' It is not clear who she is addressing.
Police have since found the remains of a dog believed to have been with the girl when she went missing, near the store where her mother reported the disappearance. Police had been on the lookout for a long-haired chihuahua with reddish-brown fur.
Police have released video of Ms. Todd's 2007 grey Ford Escape, with a 'Baby on Board' sticker on the right passenger-side corner of the rear window. Anyone who might have seen the vehicle between 9:45 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday is asked to come forward.
Before the sighting of the girl in Ontario, she had been last seen at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday in their apartment building in LaSalle.
The girl's father, Matthew Bell, 35, had shared pleas on social media for the public to help find his daughter. The professional chef did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday but posted a message of gratitude online.
'She has been found!!!' Mr. Bell wrote on Instagram. 'Thank you to everyone… Please allow me and my family to take this time with our girl.'
Crown prosecutor Lili Prévost-Gravel said some members of Ms. Todd's family were listening to Wednesday's hearing online. Ms. Prévost-Gravel, asked in a scrum after the hearing whether she still believed Ms. Todd posed a danger to the public, said, 'Yes, for sure,' adding that she could not explain why because the evidence was protected.
'It's hard for a mother to work on that kind of case, but we have to do our job and keep the public safe,' she said.
The fact that the girl had been found alive was greeted with relief across Quebec. Premier François Legault called it 'beautiful news.'
With reports from The Canadian Press
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