Canadian teens find kidnapped infant and alleged fake-nurse abductor through Facebook

(Image credit: Twitter/Mathieu Papillon)

last updated 8 January 2015

On Monday night, a woman dressed as a nurse walked into a maternity ward in a Quebec hospital and took a 16-hour-old infant from her mother, saying she need to weigh the newborn. Instead, police say, the woman walked outside to her Toyota Yaris, with a "Bébé à bord" (Baby on Board) sticker, and drove off. The parents, Mélissa McMahon and Simon Boisclair, feared for the worst; police in Trois-Rivieres issued an Amber Alert.

The alert, and descriptions of the car, spread on social media. Four local teenagers got in their car to aid in the search. "We were on Facebook," Charlène Plante explained to Canada's CTV. "We just wanted to do something for the night, so we went out to find the car." When the police released a security-camera photo of the suspected baby-snatcher and it started spreading on Facebook, Plante recognized her as an old neighbor. And she knew where she lived.

The four friends found the apartment, noticed that the car was there and someone was at home, and called the police. The police broke down the door and rescued the baby. The infant, Victoria, was returned to her parents hours after the abduction. "It was a beautiful moment," McMahon told CBC News. "The police officer cried, the nurses cried, the investigators cried, and all the doctors too — everyone was so happy with the outcome." Except, presumably, the alleged 21-year-old kidnapper, who is undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.