Missing Quebec toddler's mother arrested and charged with child abandonment
The mother of Claire Bell, the three-year-old girl who was reported missing on Sunday, has been arrested and charged with child abandonment on Monday night in Valleyfield, Que.
She will appear in court again on Tuesday.
The search for the missing toddler was still underway on Tuesday morning, according to Sûreté du Québec (SQ) spokesperson Jean-Raphaël Drolet, with a focus on Coteau-du-Lac, Highway 20 and Highway 30.
Drolet indicated that police might consider other search areas depending on the information they obtain.
The toddler was last seen Sunday morning at her home in LaSalle. Bell was reported missing a few hours later in Coteau-du-Lac, about 50 kilometres west of Montreal, where the SQ has been focusing its search.
On Monday, around 5:30 p.m., the SQ announced police were also searching around Highway 30 in the Vaudreuil-Dorion area where a brown chihuahua was found dead — a dog matching the description of the one thought to be with the girl when she was last seen. Police are still working to confirm if it's the same dog.
The toddler was reported missing by her mother around 3 p.m. ET Sunday after the woman walked into a business on Chemin St-Emmanuel, says the SQ. The mother is being met by investigators.
An employee of the store who was working Sunday said the woman drove her car into the parking lot and ran into the store in a panic.
CBC News is not identifying the employee because she is not authorized to speak on behalf of the store.
The employee said the woman said she'd lost her child and couldn't remember what happened. Another employee then called 911.
According to police, Claire was last seen at her residence near Newman Avenue in Montreal's LaSalle borough Sunday morning, around 9:45 a.m. ET.
Claire is three feet tall, weighs 35 pounds and has brown eyes and brown hair.
She was last seen wearing grey pants and a long-sleeved shirt with pink around the collar, said SQ spokesperson Laurie Avoine. She's likely barefoot, Avoine added.
The SQ is asking the public to reach out if they spotted the vehicle with the licence plate K50 FVE between 9:45 a.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET Sunday. The vehicle also has a yellow "Baby on board" sticker on the top right corner of the rear windshield.
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