Facebook amber alert posts about a newborn baby’s abduction from a hospital in Quebec, Canada, helped reunite the family within hours.
According to Quebec police, late Monday evening a woman disguised as a nurse came into the maternity ward of the hospital and took the baby away from its mother. The woman wrapped the baby in a blue blanket and walked down the halls of the hospital as if she worked there, eCanada Now noted.
The police rapidly issued an Amber alert as soon as they got word that the baby had been missing. The police also put posts on Facebook to describe the vehicle of the kidnapper and what she looked like. Police also released pictures of the woman on the website.
A group of four took note of the Facebook posts and thought they would go hunt for the car and the woman. Charlene Plante looked closely at the photo and realized that the woman was an old neighbor of hers, so she instantly knew where to go. When they arrived at the woman’s house lights were on so they knew she was home and they immediately notified the police. Within minutes the police had arrived and scooped up the baby, bringing it back into the safety of its parents arms, CNN noted.
Melissa McMahon, the mother of the baby, believes that if it weren’t for the photo going viral on Facebook, then she wouldn’t have her baby back. She thanked everyone that helped her get the baby back in a status update she posted to Facebook. “The photo saved our daughter! In less than an hour, the photo was everywhere. More than thousands of people who shared the photo of this woman on social media. Know that it was this that saved her, our little Victoria. Every click, every share made the difference”, she said. CNN