What we know after 3-year-old Quebec girl found alone on Ontario highway
A nerve‑racking four‑day hunt for a missing three‑year‑old girl from Quebec ended in relief on Wednesday when police located her alive in Ontario.
Claire Bell was reported missing by her mother, 34-year-old Rachel-Ella Todd, on Sunday afternoon in Coteau-du-Lac, Que., about 50 kilometres west of where she had last been seen in Montreal’s LaSalle borough.
Circumstances around the girl’s disappearance were “not very clear,” authorities told reporters earlier this week, shortly before the girl’s mother was arrested and charged with unlawful abandonment of a child.
The disappearance kicked off a massive search effort that included multiple police forces, helicopters, drones, search-and-rescue volunteer teams and officers on horseback.
Search efforts began near Claire’s home in Montreal and the store where she was reported missing, before shifting to new areas as officers and the public pieced together Todd’s movements on Sunday.
Police and rescue workers search the woods beside a highway for a missing three-year-old girl in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
Search parties of more than 250 people combed fields, roads and forests in the days that followed.
In a stunning turn, Bell was spotted all alone on the side of an Ontario highway on Wednesday afternoon by an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) drone.
How the child survived alone in rural Ontario in the heat for four days remains astonishing to authorities, calling it nothing short of a miracle.
Here’s a closer look at what happened.
Police focus on the mother’s whereabouts
Todd and Bell had last been seen around 9:45 a.m. Sunday on Newman Boulevard in Montreal’s LaSalle borough.
Their whereabouts were unaccounted for until the child’s mother parked her SUV outside a store in Coteau-du-Lac — a small city in southwestern Quebec, around 3 p.m.
Authorities said Todd went inside the shop and told staff she couldn’t find her daughter.
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Todd had been driving a 2007 grey Ford Escape with a “Baby on Board” sticker in the back window and the licence plate K50 FVE.
Shortly afterwards, two critical elements of the investigation were made public: the family’s pet dog had been found dead and police described a key witness who they believed might have met child’s mother.
In a video posted online Monday, Quebec provincial police asked people to be on the lookout for a long-haired chihuahua with reddish-brown fur, which might have been with the girl.
Later in the day they said a dog resembling that chihuahua had been found dead near the junction of Highways 20 and 30 near Montreal.
On Wednesday, police said they were looking to speak to a woman who lived and worked on a farm who they believe met the child’s mother. Police believe they met sometime on Sunday between 9:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., either in southwestern Quebec or Ontario.
Investigators uncover crucial lead that narrows search
A key breakthrough was uncovered on Wednesday afternoon just hours before she was found that steered the search.
Police in Quebec were able to establish that the girl and her mother had been spotted alive about 2 p.m. in the rural Casselman and St. Albert area in eastern Ontario on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly after 2 p.m., an OPP drone operator spotted the little girl sitting alone beside route 417 near St. Albert, Ont.
Sûreté du Québec Sgt. Éloïse Cossette told reporters Wednesday the girl was conscious and able to speak with officers, but there was no immediate word on her physical condition.
She received food, hydration and was taken to a nearby hospital to be examined by medical personnel as a precaution.
Officers would not comment on whose custody the girl is in, what she was wearing when she was found or how they believe she survived in the heat.
Mother charged with child abandonment
On Tuesday, Todd was arrested and charged with unlawful abandonment of a child.
Todd briefly appeared in court via video conference from a police station in Vaudreuil Tuesday before being detained at the Leclerc prison in Laval.
She looked right at the camera, nodded and seemed to understand where she was and the charge.
Crown prosecutor Lili Prévost Gravel told reporters she opposed the accused’s release due to the seriousness of the charge.
On Wednesday, Todd was handcuffed and back in court at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Courthouse as the judge postponed her case to Friday, at which point a decision will be taken on a bail hearing.
The Crown previously said no psych evaluation had been requested for Todd and not much was yet known about her mental state.
‘Extremely emotional as police officers’
The discovery of the missing toddler was an emotional moment for police involved in the search.
At a joint press conference with Quebec and Ontario provincial police forces in St. Albert Wednesday evening, OPP Acting Staff Sgt. Shaun Cameron said the case had deeply affected many officers.
Staff Sergeant Shaun Cameron of the Ontario Provincial Police speaks to media after three-year-old Claire Bell was found alive, in St. Albert, Ont., Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
“Most of us are parents with kids of our own,” Cameron said. “This makes us extremely emotional as police officers.”
SQ Capt. Benoit Richard told reporters: “It’s days like this that you are reminded why you became an officer.”
Both forces thanked the search teams of more than 250 people who worked around the clock for their efforts in finding the girl.
“Given her age, every hour mattered,” Richard said.
Richard also expressed gratitude to members of the public, emphasizing that their tips and social media posts played a crucial role in the investigation.
Quebec Premier François Legault described the girl’s safe return as “almost a miracle,” and thanked police as well as members of the public who helped.
— with files from Aaron D’Andrea and The Canadian Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Residents of a tiny rural community in eastern Ontario pressed police on Saturday for answers about a disturbing attack on a young girl that investigators believed was caused by an animal — until they arrested a teenager in the case.
Nearly 100 people filled a small community centre in Quadeville, about 170 kilometres west of Ottawa, for a town hall organized by Ontario Provincial Police to address residents’ questions and concerns about their investigation.
Some have asked why the OPP alerted the community about a suspected animal attack on the eight-year-old girl before announcing two weeks later that a 17-year-old boy had been charged with sexual assault and attempted murder.
Police have said that they never ruled out other possibilities, and that their initial theory was supported by medical and pathology experts.
At Saturday evening’s town hall, police did not divulge any new information about the case that is now before the courts, but sought to assure residents they did everything they could to keep them informed throughout the investigation.
The community centre was packed, with no empty seats to be found. As people filed in, the temperature in the room started to increase on a sweltering evening, especially after someone shut off the portable air conditioning unit that was making noise.
“It’s a very traumatic time for this community because everyone knows everyone involved,” OPP Supt. Derek Needham said at the meeting punctuated by some tense moments.
When police opened the floor for questions, a man who identified himself as a relative of the victim asked why it took a long time for police to respond when the girl was initially reported missing on June 23, after she was last seen at a local store.
Police replied that it took time to bring officers to the scene to search the area.
“I could’ve done my own investigation,” said the man, adding that he lives three hours away.
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The OPP have said that they began their search for the missing child around 9 p.m. on June 23, and found her with life-threatening injuries not long after midnight.
Police asked people to keep their small children indoors amid fears of an animal attack but as their investigation continued, they discovered that there were no traces of animal DNA from the victim’s wounds. Police have not said what kind of evidence led them to arrest the teenage suspect, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Town hall attendee Sandy Musclow asked police how members of the community should interact with the families of the young girl and the suspect.
“A whole lot of healing needs to take place,” Needham said, adding that the best thing for families to do is reach out and have open communication.
After the town hall ended, Musclow said “it’s been a bit difficult to figure out” how to support both families.
“I’ve grown up with them and we really want to make sure that we feel like everyone can feel the pain and move forward together as a community,” she said.
Musclow said that although residents didn’t get much information about the police investigation at the town hall, she was glad to see the community come together. She also pointed to various fundraising efforts for the girl, who remains in hospital, and her family.
“I just feel that the police did a really good job at giving us some solace that they did the right thing for us and they did everything as timely as they could and they were really looking into everyone’s interest,” Musclow said.
OPP spokesperson Bill Dickson told reporters on Saturday that police were compelled to warn the public about a possible animal attack in the early stages of the investigation, even if they weren’t sure that was the case.
“We couldn’t undersell it because if we didn’t say something and warn people and it was an animal and another child was attacked, that would be horrible,” he said.
Dickson said one of the local churches is bringing in counsellors to work with the community and counselling services from the OPP will also be available.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.
The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.
New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.
Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.
Montreal finished second in the category.
The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.
“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”
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The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.
In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.
“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”
Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.
In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.
Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.
Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”
To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.
Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.
Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.
Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.
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The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.
Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.
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