Manitoba

Manitoba mother, 45, arrested in Toronto after suspected parental abduction

A 45-year-old woman from Manitoba has been charged with parental abduction, after police arrested her at a Toronto airport where she was found attempting to leave the country with her daughters, RCMP say.

RCMP say woman was attempting to take her 8- and 12-year-old daughters to Turkey

Travellers stand in line at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
RCMP say a 45-year-old woman from Manitoba was arrested at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Thursday night, where she was attempting to board a flight to Turkey with her daughters, ages eight and 12. She has been charged with parental abduction. (Laura Clementson/CBC)

A 45-year-old woman from Manitoba has been charged with parental abduction, after police arrested her at a Toronto airport where she was found attempting to leave the country with her daughters, RCMP say.

RCMP in the city of Steinbach, southeast of Winnipeg, say they were called around 7 p.m. on Thursday by the father of the two girls, who are eight and 12 years old.

The father, a 47-year-old man from the rural municipality of La Broquerie, east of Steinbach, told police he was supposed to pick the girls up at school earlier Thursday, but said his wife had left with the children and he believed she was trying to leave the country. 

RCMP say their preliminary investigation determined the girls and their mother were at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport at around 1:20 p.m. CT Thursday, where they boarded a flight to Toronto. 

Police from the Peel region, in the Greater Toronto Area, found the mother and the two children at Toronto Pearson International Airport, where they were attempting to board a flight to Turkey, Manitoba RCMP said in a Friday news release.

The woman was taken into custody on charges of parental abduction. Police said arrangements will be made for her to be brought back to Manitoba for court.

The two children were placed in care and will return to Manitoba, RCMP said.