Quebec provincial police are are asking the public to stop sharing the name and photo of the three-year-old Montreal girl who was found alive in Ontario after going missing for four days.
The child was found all alone along Highway 417, east of the on-ramp for Casselman, Ont., on Wednesday afternoon. She was reported missing Sunday by her mother, who was later arrested and charged with unlawful abandonment of a child.
While tips from citizens in Quebec and Ontario, who widely shared the girl’s name and photo throughout the search, contributed to her being found, police are now asking people to restore her anonymity.
“What she experienced as a child was a very difficult ordeal,” the SQ’s Jean Raphaël Drolet said in a video on the police force’s social media Thursday. “And what she needs right now is to rest, regain her strength, and also to return to anonymity. We’re counting on everyone right now to stop spreading her identity or posting photos or videos that could identify her.
“This is intended for her, today and in the future, but also for her loved ones, who also experienced this event.”
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) found the girl while searching the rural area southeast of Ottawa with a drone, about 120 kilometres southwest of the child’s Montreal home.
She was reported missing by her mother in Coteau-du-Lac, Que., on Sunday afternoon, about six hours after they left their home and some 90 minutes after they were last seen together near Casselman.
The 34-year-old mother is scheduled to return to court Friday for a bail hearing.
‘It’s unbelievable what happened‘
Wednesday’s outcome was met with a wave of relief from the public and law enforcement on both sides of the border.
In Coteau-du-Lac, officers could be seen high-fiving and shaking hands when it became known the girl was found alive and safe.
“The happy ending, you know, usually it’s 48 hours,” said Paul Laurier, a former SQ investigator. “It was very, very close. And it was a very strange case. We don’t know the exact, I mean, we have bits of information, but police officers have the true story, the full story, they have evidence to provide. But I mean, being a parent, having children, it’s unbelievable what happened.”
“It was unbelievable,” echoed Dany Chaput, who helped lead volunteer efforts in the search. “It was such a good relief for all of us knowing that at least she was found alive. That’s the important thing.
“And I mean, she’s three years old, but she’s gonna be with that for life. But I mean, she’s still young. So people will take care of her.”
Though police have said the child was found alone, they would not reveal if she was found with food or water — or what exactly happened during those days she was missing.
“It is very remarkable that she survived the amount of time that she did,” said Dr. Christopher Labos, a Montreal cardiologist and epidemiologist. “While it’s not impossible, it’s quite exceptional.”
Labos says surviving several days without food is possible, but signs of dehydration typically begin within about a day, putting a person at serious medical risk.
“The human body is not built to go without water for an extended period of time,” he said.
Chaput, a member of Association Québécoise des Bénévoles en Recherche et Sauvetage and coordinator with Recherche Sauvetage Estrie, explains how a search like that unfolds.
“For us, it’s the same process as any person missing,” he said. “But the thing is that we work as a support team for the police officers. It provides us some sectors or some boxes that they want us to cover. So we have to get there, finding the best strategy based on our experience, how to proceed and make sure that we go through and nothing has been missing.”
–With files from Adriana Gentile