Not Criminally Responsible Due To A Mental Disorder: Missing 3YO Found Safe; Cops Reveal Mom’s Alarming Online Search Before Girl's Disappearance

[Sugar Cookie]

A toddler was found alive and wandering on the side of a Canadian highway nearly 100 miles away from home after a frantic four-day search — as cops revealed her mother made several unsettling online searches, including for children’s urns and funeral arrangements, before the tot’s disappearance.

Claire Bell, 3, was discovered on an Ontario highway Wednesday afternoon, some 90 miles west of her home in Montreal, Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police, said.

The tot was seen Sunday morning leaving an emergency exit of her apartment building in Montreal’s La Salle region with her mother, Rachel Todd, and her pet chihuahua, according to Le Journal de Montréal.

Her mother reported Bell missing later in the day in Coteau-du-Lac, about 60 miles away from where she was last seen.

Bell was found wandering alone on the side of Highway 417 in Ontario after a drone search was deployed over a witness tip, the outlet said.

A chihuahua that matched the description of one believed to be with Bell when she was last seen was found dead close to the souvenir shop where Todd reported her daughter missing.

Cops are now searching for an important witness who may have more information about what happened in the hours between when Bell was last seen and reported missing by her mother, the outlet reported.

Missing toddler found safe on side of road 90 miles from home — as cops reveal mom’s alarming online search before her disappearance

Her mother, Rachel Todd, 34, was arrested and charged with child abandonment.

nypost.com

 

[thuumpr]

Expect Claire to do an OJ search for the child's abductors and dog killers. But for the slow speedchase ...

 

[runninfawn]

highway 417 is the buzyest highway in canada... i know the area where she was found and the traffic is very heavy and fast ... it is a miracle she wasn't killed ... i hope that this child is never ever returned to her bio unit... that being said the bio unit will get a gentle tap on the wrist and child protection, as every where else, their first job it seems is re-uniting the "family" and NOT what is in the best interest of the child ....another miracle is how did she survive from sunday till she was found on wed?? at 3 y.o. i sure hope she is verbal enough to shed some light on what happened to her

 

[the cat did it]

All very suspicious and very telling IMO-dead dog too? Yup nope don't even let this person care for a worm

 

[runninfawn]

All very suspicious and very telling IMO-dead dog too? Yup nope don't even let this person care for a worm

suspicious as heck i would say... how can a 3 y.o. survive for 3 nights alone and make her way for miles on a busy highway? in what condition was she found? starved, dehydrated, cracked lips from dehydration? full of mosquito bites, filthy, if toilet trained well she might have pulled down her clothes but wiping no way she could do that , so what condition her undies in, or diapers etc?? all those signs plus what she can verbelize would tell a good part of the story imo. how can a 3 y.o survive around 72 hours alone on the sides of a busy highway without being seen and with no food or water when most adults couldn't?

 

[the cat did it]

suspicious as heck i would say... how can a 3 y.o. survive for 3 nights alone and make her way for miles on a busy highway? in what condition was she found? starved, dehydrated, cracked lips from dehydration? full of mosquito bites, filthy, if toilet trained well she might have pulled down her clothes but wiping no way she could do that , so what condition her undies in, or diapers etc?? all those signs plus what she can verbelize would tell a good part of the story imo. how can a 3 y.o survive around 72 hours alone on the sides of a busy highway without being seen and with no food or water when most adults couldn't?

I think they ought to give P.I. @runninfawn a crack at this case- and then dole out appropriate punishment!

 

[BuffettGirl]

My hinky-dar is pegging at 100...

 

[runninfawn]

I think they ought to give P.I. @runninfawn a crack at this case- and then dole out appropriate punishment!

my mind works in dif. ways as i have both law enforcement and paramedics in my family and of course i listen well and do ask them lots of questions lol.. i am curious by nature and made more so from my experience as both social worker, foster mom for teens and raising my own.. but i can promise you that child abusers would not want me as their judge and be dam the guide lines and plea deals if i was lol

 

[the cat did it]

my mind works in dif. ways as i have both law enforcement and paramedics in my family and of course i listen well and do ask them lots of questions lol.. i am curious by nature and made more so from my experience as both social worker, foster mom for teens and raising my own.. but i can promise you that child abusers would not want me as their judge and be dam the guide lines and plea deals if i was lol

And to be clear when I said "dole out the appropriate punishment" I meant YOU dole it out as I have complete faith that you would give an appropriate punishment! vote for @runninfawn

 

[Sugar Cookie]

She is adorable.

The mother of a three-year-old girl reported missing on Sunday will remain in detention as she awaits her next hearing at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que., courthouse Wednesday.

Rachel-Ella Todd, 34, was arrested and charged with child abandonment late on Monday.

Todd appeared in court via videoconference from a Vaudreuil-Dorion police station Tuesday morning. She's scheduled to make an in-person appearance Wednesday, at the request of her lawyer, Olivier Béliveau.

The charge alleges that she abandoned the toddler and put her life and health in danger. If found guilty, the maximum sentence is five years in prison.

Todd has no criminal record, said Crown prosecutor Lili Prévost-Gravel, speaking to reporters outside the courtroom. She added that the Crown is objecting to Todd's release while she awaits further court proceedings. She will be transported to a women's detention centre today.


"We don't know what happened to…the little girl," said Prévost-Gravel. "For now, we have the police officers still investigating so we want to make sure that nothing more tragic is going on."

A video posted by Todd in the hours before the girl's disappearance has surfaced on TikTok. Radio-Canada has confirmed the account belongs to her.

In the short video, Todd is holding the girl and speaks into the camera saying: "You try that again and this is going to get ugly."

The caption says, "Have you come up against a mother with nothing to lose????"

CBC does not know the context in which the video was filmed. Quebec provincial police said it is not commenting on the video.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/3-year-old-missing-between-lasalle-and-coteau-du-lac-1.7563087

The comment with the baby is at the end of the video.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

I want to know what happened to the dog... how did it die?

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A Quebec judge has ruled that the woman accused of abandoning her three-year-old daughter earlier this summer is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

On Monday morning in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Judge Bertrand St-Arnaud delivered his decision. The woman, whose identity is shielded by a publication ban to protect her daughter, had faced charges of child abandonment and criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

The case drew national attention in June when the toddler was reported missing, sparking an intensive search. Three days later, she was found alive along a highway in Ontario, approximately 150 kilometres from where she was last seen in Quebec.

Evidence presented in court established that the mother drove her daughter from Montreal on June 15 and later left her in a field in Ontario. Judge St-Arnaud stated that while the facts were proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the mother’s mental disorder means she cannot be held criminally responsible.

This decision underscores two critical issues: the urgent need for stronger safeguards to protect vulnerable children, and the importance of timely, accessible mental health care. Cases like this remind us that prevention must come before tragedy—through better support systems, early intervention, and community awareness.

Whereabouts Unknown is in Salaberry-De-Valleyfield, QC.​

 

[cubby]

Wasn't she searching urns and funeral arrangements, yeah she's crazy like a fox. She knew what she was doing and was hoping the baby wandered into traffic, so she could mourn her baby as if she did nothing to cause her death.