(CNN) -- The woman wore a nurse's uniform
when she walked into the maternity ward.
She left the hospital driving away in a red car
with a sign that said "Baby on Board."
Police say there was a baby inside the Toyota
Yaris the 21-year-old was driving Monday
evening as she left the hospital in Trois-
Rivières, Quebec.
But the little girl wasn't hers.
At the hospital, baby Victoria's parents were
frantic.
Their child was only 16 hours old when she
was abducted, mother Mélissa McMahon said
in a Facebook post describing the ordeal.
"The worst case scenarios played out over and
over in our heads," she wrote. "Unfortunately,
the endings are not often happy, above all in
this type of case."
But just a few hours after the baby
went missing, authorities returned
her to her parents.
Thanks to "four marvelous people,"
McMahon wrote, and "thanks to
Facebook."
"It is the only reason that explains why
Victoria is in my arms at this time," she said.
Amber Alert goes viral
Publicity about Victoria's disappearance
started with an Amber Alert sent out by
Quebec police.
In social media posts, messages from police
described the vehicle and the woman driving
it. The newborn, police said, was wrapped in a
blue blanket.
It wasn't long before the alert and a photo
went viral.
A group of four friends spotted it on Facebook
when they were hanging out on Monday night,
Canadian media reported.
" We just wanted to do something for the night,
so we went out to find the car," Charlène
Plante told Canada's CTV network
When police released a photo of a woman
wearing scrubs in the hospital, Plante said
she immediately recognized her former
neighbor.
The friends drove to the woman's apartment
and saw the car parked outside.
"The patio door was open. The lights were on,"
Mélizanne Bergeron told Canadian public
broadcaster CBC. "It was clear that she was
there."
Then, they called police. Officers were there
within minutes, Plante said, kicking down the
apartment door. The baby was recovered and
a woman was taken into custody.
"After the baby was in the hands of the police,
it was the best moment in my life," Bergeron
told CTV. "We were crying."
On Facebook, she posted a video showing her
tearful friends as a police officer appeared in
the apartment building's stairwell, the baby
safe in his arms.
Woman in custody
Quebec police spokeswoman Christine
Coulombe wouldn't confirm details about how
the baby was found, but she said police
received tips from the public after publicizing
the case on social media.
The woman was hospitalized for evaluation
and was on 24-hour police watch, but she had
not met yet with investigators Tuesday,
Coulombe said.
It is not known whether there was any
previous link between the woman and the
baby's family, she said.
In a statement , the hospital from where the
baby was taken thanked police investigators
and said a team of risk-assessment experts
would be analyzing the circumstances
surrounding the incident and making
recommendations about whether any changes
are needed. Details from the police
investigation will also be part of that analysis,
the hospital said.
"At this time, it is difficult to discuss in more
detail the situation without revealing specific
elements that could harm the investigation
and court proceedings," the Center for Health
and Social Services of Trois-Rivières said in a
statement. "The establishment will therefore be
reserved in public statements in the coming
days."
Daniel Cossette, the baby's uncle, told CTV
that he spoke with the woman in the nurse's
uniform as she walked down the hospital
hallway with the newborn in her arms. She
told him she was taking the baby for routine
tests.
"She had the attitude, the uniform, all of it," he
said, "and we never presumed she was a
kidnapper."
'Every click, every share made the difference'
As authorities continue investigating, the
baby's mother says she has no doubt about
how Victoria ended up in her arms again.
Alert hospital staff realized quickly that the
baby had been taken, she said. Fellow
patients at the hospital provided details about
the woman and her vehicle. Security guards
tracked down a photo of the woman with help
from police. And investigators sent out the
Amber Alert and image very quickly.
"The photo saved our daughter! In less than
an hour, the photo was everywhere...You were
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," McMahon wrote in a message
thanking people for their support .
But along with her thank-you message, she
also sent a word of caution to other mothers,
saying that her experience with the woman
dressed as a nurse should be a warning.
"Never allow yourself to be influenced by a
uniform....I know that it can seem trivial, but if
I had been more skeptical, all of this could
have been avoided....Verify the badge of the
nurse...ask questions...it is your child, don't
let them out of your sight," she wrote. "I would
not like anyone else to live this."
She did not describe further details about any
interaction with the woman.
As for her baby, McMahon said "little Victoria
wears her name well for this victory."
"To give life to our child is an incredible
moment," she wrote, "but finding our child
safe and sound is an indescribable feeling."
Her post had been shared more than 18,000
times on Facebook by Tuesday night.
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