Toddler found wandering busy boulevard in Laval after slipping out of daycare unnoticed

A Laval woman says she’s appalled after she found a young girl walking alone on a busy street and returned her to a daycare that had no idea she was gone.

Cleopatra Pitsakis was driving on Ste-Rose Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon when she spotted a little girl. Pitsakis says a car travelling in the opposite direction nearly struck the child.

“She almost got hit by a car,” Pitsakis said.

Pitsakis pulled over and approached the girl, who told her she had left her daycare and needed help getting back. The two then walked three blocks back to the facility, Garderie Éducative Fabreville, together.

When they arrived, staff were stunned.

“They kept asking each other, ‘How did she get out?’” Pitsakis recalled. “How were you not aware that the kid left the classroom? How were you not aware that she was in the hallway getting dressed?”

Pitsakis filed a police report that evening and says she has video footage of returning the girl to the facility.

“There’s no reason why there’s a kid roaming the streets on a busy boulevard,” she said. “It has to be investigated.”

Staff at Garderie Éducative Fabreville referred all questions to Quebec’s Families Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said it was taking the situation “very seriously.”

“As soon as we were informed of the situation, steps were taken to investigate the events and carry out checks at the childcare centre in order to take the necessary measures, if required,” the ministry said.

“An action plan has also been requested from the childcare centre to prevent such a situation from recurring.”