Quebec provincial police are asking anyone who may have seen a grey 2007 Ford Escape around Montreal’s LaSalle borough or Coteau-du-Lac, Que., to reach out to them, as the search for a missing three-year-old girl continues.
Claire Bell was last seen Sunday morning at her home in LaSalle Sunday morning. She was reported missing a few hours later in Coteau-du-Lac, about 50 kilometres west of Montreal, where the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) has been focusing its search.
Later, 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.
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.
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 has opened a double investigation. The first, led by the crimes against the person unit, is meant to piece together what happened between Claire’s last sighting and when she was reported missing. The second is the search operation for Claire, which is mainly concentrated in Coteau-du-Lac, where officers have set up a command post.
Avoine said residents in the area and in LaSalle should check their yards and report any abnormalities. Police are also searching near the Ontario border.
The SQ said Claire’s disappearance does not meet the requirements for an Amber Alert to be issued, but that they are treating the case seriously. SQ spokesperson Jean-Raphaël Drolet says the situation is “concerning” and that it’s not because there’s no Amber Alert that there’s fewer search operations.
“There needs to be reasonable grounds to believe that there’s been a kidnapping and that that kidnapping represents a serious and immediate danger to the child’s life and safety,” said Drolet. “At the moment, we don’t have information to suggest there’s been a kidnapping.”
Specialized search units worked overnight and will continue throughout the day with the support of helicopters, drones and search dogs.
Police say anyone with information on Claire’s whereabouts should call 911 or the SQ’s confidential tip line: 1-800-659-4264.
