Parents Reunited With Kidnapped Newborn, Thanks to Facebook
Friends saw the alert and recognized the woman sought by police.
May 28, 2014 — -- Baby Victoria is back with her parents today after being kidnapped from a hospital room in Quebec, Canada, thanks to some new-age sleuthing.
On Monday evening, new parents Melissa McMahon and Simon Boisclair were cuddling the infant at Ville-Marie hospital in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, when police said a woman, dressed like a nurse, entered their room. A family friend said the woman told the couple Victoria needed a routine test. The friend said the couple handed the baby over but quickly felt like something was amiss.
Thirteen minutes later, the hospital was calling 911 and authorities were beaming the security camera image of the woman across the city.
A group of 20-somethings -- Charlene Plante, Marc-Andre Cote, Sharelle Bergeron and Melizanne Bergeron -- saw the alert on Facebook and decided to drive around and search for the baby. Eventually, though, one of the friends took a closer look at the image and recognized the woman in it as a former neighbor.
Moments later, they'd contacted the police and officers had rescued the baby -- with the friends recording it all.
"Best moment of [my] life," Melizanne Bergeron said. "We were crying."
Baby Victoria was returned to her parents within three hours of the kidnapping. The woman accused in the kidnapping was in a hospital in police custody, according to CTV News.
In the US, many hospitals attach electronic bracelets to newborns. If they are carried off the maternity ward, an alarm sounds.
Since the early 1980s, 132 infants have been abducted from hospitals nationwide.
The Canadian hospital where Victoria was born did not have that level of security.
In a letter on Facebook, McMahon wrote that if it wasn't for every click, every share of that alert on social media, they likely would not have their daughter with them.
"We felt a huge amount of support from the public. This victory is for you, too!!!" she wrote.
ABC News' Linzie Janis and The Associated Press contributed to this story.