Father of boy who was the subject of an Amber Alert appears in Ontario court

Ugo Fredette is expected to be transferred back to Quebec later Saturday, and Ontario Provincial Police say an investigation in their province is ongoing. (Facebook photo)

The father of a six-year-old boy who was the subject of an Amber Alert this week appeared in an Ontario court Saturday and will be transferred back to Quebec.

The six-year-old boy vanished from St-Eustache, Que., on Thursday and his father was apprehended in Ontario nearly 24 hours later. By then, the body of the boy’s mother had also been discovered in the family home.

The father is expected to be transferred back to Quebec later Saturday, and Ontario Provincial Police say an investigation in their province is ongoing.

Ontario police said they couldn’t comment on what charges the man might face in his home province, and police in Quebec did not respond to requests for comment on that matter.

Quebec provincial police are combing an area around Lachute for a missing 71-year-old man who previously used the car in which the missing child was found safe.

Sgt. Claude Denis says a ground and air search is currently underway for Yvon Lacasse, adding that finding him is considered a top priority for the investigation.

“For us, it is an emergency to find Mr. Lacasse,” Denis said from the scene of the search.

Police have speculated that the child’s father may have dropped Lacasse off somewhere in his flight to eastern Ontario.

The boy’s father made it from St-Eustache to the town of Griffith, Ont., about 150 kilometres west of Ottawa, before he was arrested.

Police said they used ground and air support and deployed a spike belt to stop the father’s vehicle and that he was arrested after a short foot chase.

Police said the child was found in the vehicle in good physical health and had been placed in care.

The boy’s mother, who was married to his father, was found dead Thursday night in a home in St-Eustache, north of Montreal.

Police said she had four children, including three before her relationship with the six-year-old’s father.