Canadian toddler, Claire Bell, still missing: Mom’s bail hearing, dad shares pleas & cops update
It is Wednesday morning, the 18th of June, and we’re back in Canada today to talk about the missing three-year-old Cla Bell from Quebec.

Many of you will know that just after I posted my video yesterday, the news came out that the mother of little Cla, Rachel Todd, 34 years old, had been arrested for child abandonment. Since then, Cla’s dad, or at least the man that the media are saying is Cla’s dad, has also spoken out. So, we’re going to talk about all of that.

And, uh, what’s with this crazy TikTok, you guys? “You try that again and this is going to get ugly.” Crazy TikTok aside—except to say that that clearly shows what Rachel’s mindset was like on Sunday. That was Sunday morning; little Cla was seen in the vicinity of their apartment in Lasalle about 9:45 a.m. Then at 3:30 p.m., in a completely different town, Rachel walks into a store and says that she doesn’t know where her child is.

Now, Monday afternoon, I do know that she was being interrogated. And then it was overnight, Monday into Tuesday local time, that she was arrested. She has now appeared in court. I believe she’s got a bail hearing today. We’re going to read this article and then have a look at Cla’s dad.

So, I don’t know whether Rachel’s bizarre TikTok was for the purpose of Cla’s dad. I’m not going to speculate until we know more. But anyway, let’s read this:

The mother of Cla Bell, a three-year-old girl reported missing on Sunday, will remain in detention as she awaits her next hearing at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse on Wednesday—so that’ll be the bail hearing.

Rachel Ellard, who turned 34 on the eve of Cla’s disappearance—oh my word—was arrested and charged with child abandonment late on Monday. Todd appeared in court via video conference from a Vaudreuil-Dorion police station Tuesday morning, and she’s scheduled to make an in-person appearance Wednesday at the request of her lawyer, Olivia Bellivo.

The charge alleges that she abandoned Cla and put her life and health in danger. If found guilty, the maximum sentence is five years in prison.

Now look, they searched overnight Tuesday into today for Cla. If they find Cla’s body, I think they’re going to upgrade those charges.

Todd has no criminal record, said Crown Prosecutor Lily Prevost-Gravel. Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, she added that the Crown is objecting to Todd’s release while she awaits further court proceedings. She will be transported to a women’s detention center today.

“We don’t know what happened to the little girl. For now, we have the police officers still investigating, so we want to make sure that nothing more tragic is going on.”

The mother of the missing three-year-old, Rachel Ella Todd, is facing one charge of child abandonment. She appeared at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse wearing a red sweater and wrapped in a gray blanket by video conference. She stood very close to the screen, appeared aware, and said the words “okay” and “thank you” when Justice Bonet told her what is to come. Todd remains behind bars for now.

The search to find three-year-old Cla Bell continued along Highway 30 and 40 for a second day with a rescue helicopter and officers on the ground. Provincial police asked to stop garbage collection in the neighboring municipalities. This is temporary, and this is a normal procedure.

Cla Bell was reported missing on Father’s Day in Coteau-du-Lac by her mother. But the little girl was last seen in the morning an hour away at her home in Lasalle.

On Monday, provincial police say they found a dead dog that matches the description of the brown Chihuahua belonging to Cla. The body of the dog, which appears to be the girl’s, was found near Highway 30.

Hours before her daughter went missing, Todd posted a video on TikTok titled, “Have you come up against a mother with nothing to lose?” In it, she’s holding Cla in her arms and speaks to the camera: “You try that again and this is going to get ugly.” CBC does not know the context in which the video was filmed.

According to Radio-Canada sources, the analysis of the mother’s cell phone revealed searches for children’s funeral urns. Todd will be back in court in person on Wednesday.

Searches for children’s urns—oh my word. “Have you come up against a mother with nothing to lose?” Yeah, we don’t know the context.

So this is what they’ve been doing in relation to the search. The little brown Chihuahua has been found deceased, sadly, by the side of Highway 30. A lot of people are asking me how the dog died. I don’t know. Are they going to autopsy the dog? They don’t normally, but cops might request it if it’s not obvious how the dog died.

I’m suspecting—and this is just my speculation—that the dog either got run over, maybe Rachel dropped Cla and the dog off somewhere, consistent with the child abandonment charge, and then the dog tried to get home. It’s not a good sign. Kind of thinking if Cla was alive, the dog would have stayed with her. I don’t know, though, anything about this dog—or the dog was thrown from a vehicle. Horrific for this little dog.

The search for the missing toddler is still underway Tuesday with a focus on Highway 30 between Highway 20 and 40, said SQ spokesperson Jean-Raphael Drolet Tuesday afternoon. According to the charge sheet, prosecutors believe Todd abandoned Cla in the general area around Coteau-du-Lac. Police are discouraging citizens from conducting their own searches, as they may destroy tracks and confuse SQ’s efforts.

They’ve also asked several surrounding municipalities to put a hold on garbage and yard waste recycling collection, as investigators continue to search for clues in what Drolet calls a normal procedure for this kind of operation. This is because, you know, there have been cases of children put in the trash. Quinton Simon is a prime example. So it’s somewhat routine now when a small child goes missing under suspicious circumstances that they put a hold on emptying garbage so it doesn’t turn into a landfill search.

The searches continue in the area here. “We searched the area near Highway 30, near Highway 20 and Highway 40 yesterday. The body of the dog, which appears to be the girl’s dog, has been found near the I-30. So the search is in this area. We still try to find something else on the ground and we have a lot of police officers there to search the area.”

“Other than the dog, have there been any indications?” “I cannot give you information about that actually.”

“Have you asked the surrounding municipalities to not collect garbage?” “Yes, this is temporary and this is a normal procedure to ask the cities and municipalities around to hold the garbage and recycling collection.”

“How hard is it, knowing how many hours it’s been and that this is a three-year-old girl?” “Yeah, we want to find the girl quickly. So we put many resources to find the girl as soon as possible. This is hard because we have a large area and we want to have some information from the public.”

“So, if somebody saw the gray vehicle—a 2007 gray Ford Escape with the yellow sticker ‘Baby on Board’ on the back glass—please call the SQ or the information center to give the information because it could be helpful for the investigation.”

“Could I just ask you how far is the perimeter for your search right now? From what municipality to which one?”

“The main operation is near Highway 30 between Highway 20 and Highway 40.”

That’s a big area. So, we can find a lot of police officers there searching the long grass, searching the shoulders of the highway. The pictures that are coming out—the grass is really high. So, if she’s deceased, it’s going to be very, very difficult to find her.

I don’t know why they’re not employing cadaver dogs. Maybe they are and they’ve just not been filmed. But this is just not looking good. Not looking good at all. That’s one such picture. And look how high that grass is. There could be a body just there and you wouldn’t see it unless you’re right upon it.

During her questioning by police Monday, Todd didn’t seem lucid and made confused remarks which complicated the work of investigators. According to Radio-Canada’s sources, their sources say an analysis of Todd’s phone revealed searches for children’s funeral urns, as was first reported by the Journal de Montréal on Tuesday.

According to police, Cla was last seen at a residence on Newman Avenue in Montreal’s Lasalle at 9:45 a.m. Cla is just 3 feet tall and 35 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Last seen wearing gray pants, a long-sleeve shirt with pink around the collar, and likely barefoot.

Now, we’ve got some posts from dad, Chef Matt Bell, who has been sharing the Missing People of Canada posts. However, when I went to his Insta, he’s either taken them down or I’m on the wrong account. But there’s only two accounts that I could find called Chef Matt Bell, and one of them clearly wasn’t him. So, I don’t know. Has he taken them down? Was he getting abuse? I don’t know.

Let’s read this:

Father of Cla Bell shares public pleas on social media. Not much is known about Matt Bell, 35. The professional chef has not spoken to the media publicly since his daughter disappeared. In the aftermath of Cla’s disappearance and mother Rachel Todd’s arrest, we know all this. According to Bell’s Facebook profile, the two were engaged in 2021, although recent TikTok posts by Todd suggest they have since separated.

On Monday, Bell shared several posts on Instagram, including updates from the SQ appealing to the public. On Tuesday, he posted several times again. One of the posts was a link to a Facebook message originally shared by someone who identified themselves as a family friend. The post included a widely circulated image of Cla smiling. The accompanying text read: “Cla is still missing, three years old, very timid and quiet. Any and all information is needed. Please check your cameras for a 2007 gray Ford SUV and a little girl wearing light gray pants and a white long-sleeve shirt.”

Above the image, the caption reads: “Please, anyone in the Valleyfield, Coteau-du-Lac, or Île-Perrot areas, if you live, work, or have a business near the highway or a side street, check your cameras from June 15th around 9:40 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.”

Cla was last seen around 9:45 a.m. Sunday near Newman Boulevard in Montreal’s Lasalle. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or contact the SQ’s confidential tip line at 1-800-659-4264.

The date is poignant for many of us because on that day, June 15th, 2021, Summer Wells disappeared. What people also forget is that June 15th, 2023, was the day that Chad Doerman shot his three little sons to death. And now we have June 15th, 2025, and this horrible story of Cla. What is it about June 15th? What’s going on?

It also isn’t lost on me that June 15th, 2025, was Father’s Day. It’s Father’s Day here. Was it Father’s Day in Canada as well? Anyhow, horrific. I hope they find her very soon. Let’s see how it develops. Hope she doesn’t get bail today, but let’s see.