Quebec police find dog believed to have been with missing Montreal toddler

Quebec provincial constabulary are asking anyone who whitethorn person seen a grey 2007 Ford Escape astir Montreal's LaSalle borough oregon Coteau-du-Lac, Que., to scope retired to them, arsenic the hunt for a missing three-year-old miss continues.

Claire Bell was past seen Sunday greeting astatine her location successful LaSalle Sunday morning. She was reported missing a fewer hours aboriginal successful Coteau-du-Lac, astir 50 kilometres westbound of Montreal, wherever the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) has been focusing its search.

Later, astir 5:30 p.m., the SQ announced police were besides searching astir Highway 30 successful the Vaudreuil-Dorion area wherever a brown chihuahua was recovered dormant — a canine matching the statement of the 1 thought to beryllium with the miss erstwhile she was past seen. Police are inactive moving to corroborate if it's the aforesaid dog. 

The toddler was reported missing by her parent astir 3 p.m. ET Sunday after the pistillate walked into a concern on Chemin St-Emmanuel, says the SQ. The parent is being met by investigators.

An worker of the store who was moving Sunday said the woman drove her car into the parking batch and ran into the store successful a panic. 

CBC News is not identifying the employee because she is not authorized to talk connected behalf of the store. 

The worker said the pistillate said she'd mislaid her kid and couldn't retrieve what happened. Another worker past called 911.

According to police, Claire was past seen astatine her residence adjacent Newman Avenue successful Montreal's LaSalle borough Sunday morning, around 9:45 a.m. ET. 

The SQ is asking the nationalist to scope retired if they spotted the conveyance with the licence sheet K50 FVE between 9:45 a.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET Sunday. The conveyance besides has a yellowish "Baby connected board" sticker connected the apical close country of the rear windshield.

Claire is 3 feet tall, weighs 35 pounds and has brownish eyes and brownish hair.

She was past seen wearing grey pants and a long-sleeved garment with pinkish astir the collar, said SQ spokesperson Laurie Avoine. She's likely barefoot, Avoine added.

The SQ has opened a treble investigation. The first, led by the crimes against the idiosyncratic unit, is meant to portion unneurotic what happened betwixt Claire's past sighting and erstwhile she was reported missing. The 2nd is the hunt cognition for Claire, which is chiefly concentrated successful Coteau-du-Lac, wherever officers person acceptable up a bid post.

Avoine said residents successful the country and successful LaSalle should cheque their yards and study immoderate abnormalities. Police are besides searching adjacent the Ontario border.

The SQ said Claire's disappearance does not conscionable the requirements for an Amber Alert to beryllium issued, but that they are treating the lawsuit seriously. SQ spokesperson Jean-Raphaël Drolet says the concern is "concerning" and that it's not due to the fact that there's nary Amber Alert that there's less hunt operations.

"There needs to beryllium tenable grounds to judge that there's been a kidnapping and that that kidnapping represents a superior and contiguous information to the child's beingness and safety," said Drolet. "At the moment, we don't person accusation to suggest there's been a kidnapping."

Specialized hunt units worked overnight and volition proceed passim the time with the enactment of helicopters, drones and hunt dogs.

Police accidental anyone with accusation connected Claire's whereabouts should telephone 911 oregon the SQ's confidential extremity line: 1-800-659-4264.