MONTREAL – Police in the Montreal suburb of Laval found the body on Monday of a month-old infant who had been missing since the car his mother was driving crashed into a river Friday.

The boy was in a vehicle with his mother and four-year-old sister that plunged into the Mille Îles River in a northwestern sector of Laval just before 5 p.m. Friday.

Provincial police divers found the child’s body at about 10:15 a.m. Monday, about three hours after teams began a third day of searching. The mother and second child survived, but police said the mother remained in critical condition Monday.

Const. Stéphanie Beshara said divers found the body at the bottom of the shallow river, not far from where the vehicle entered the water.

Beshara said the probe is ongoing but investigators believe the crash could have been deliberate. “Certain information leads us to believe that it was potentially a voluntary act by the mother,” she said.

The 40-year-old mother was hospitalized in critical condition and unable to speak to investigators, so they don’t know all the circumstances surrounding the crash, Beshara said.

The four-year-old girl was rescued and released from hospital Friday evening and is being cared for by family members.

Police spent the weekend looking for the missing baby, with provincial police divers and a helicopter joining local police and fire department teams.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2022.