For the four long days she was missing, she was everyone’s child.

The police officers and trained search crews out scouring the ditches of highways or combing through dense brush searched for the three-year-old Montreal girl as if she were their own. Many are parents themselves, after all, and took precious time away from their families to find her.

The entire population of Greater Montreal hung on every news update and itched to help search, even though the Sûreté du Québec warned the public to leave it to the professionals. Many hugged their kids a little tighter, unable to keep from imagining their own babes lost in the woods.

Everyone expected the worst as the days dragged on. So when the news came Wednesday afternoon that she had been found alive and well, the joy rippled far and wide.

Worried bystanders, intrepid journalists and grizzled law enforcement veterans alike shed tears of relief. Beaming police officers gave the thumbs-up, high-fived each other and hugged. Her father and Premier François Legault both expressed their elation on social media.

A happy ending to such a troubling story is rare. And it’s a credit to the tireless efforts of three police forces — the SQ, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal and the Ontario Provincial Police — that the girl was brought home safe.

Typically, the more time that elapses after a child so young is reported missing, the lower the chance of survival. Every........

© Montreal Gazette