A group of people in Quebec used a social networking site to successfully aid a police investigation to find and return a baby kidnapped from a Canadian Hospital.
Online news providers understand that the child was taken from a hospital in Trois-Rivieres by a woman disguised as a nurse, who claimed she was going to weigh the newborn. Police officers sent out an alert and released a photograph of the woman believed to have abducted the baby, along with a description of the vehicle used to flee the hospital.
These were then uploaded onto the popular social platform Facebook by the law enforcement services, as well as friends and relatives. This image then received numerous shares and reposts in a plea to help locate and return the missing infant.
Following the attention on the online service, a group of four were casually browsing the website as a way to relieve their boredom and came across the posts. One of the quartet instantly recognised the woman in the photographs and identified her as a neighbour, before driving to the suspect’s home and notifying the authorities.
Once the police had confirmed that this was the correct suspect, they rushed to the scene and retrieved the baby, who was safely returned to the worried parents. They in turn thanked the authorities and the people involved in the retrieval with a post on the social network.
The success of this investigation shows the power of social media and its use as a tool that can impact upon important situations within a community.
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