The mother of a three-year-old girl reported missing since Sunday in the Montreal area has been charged with child abandonment as the search for the girl continues.

Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Sgt. Laurie Avoine says the mother faces one charge of abandoning a child and appeared in court for the first time on Monday night. She is set to return to court later Tuesday.

The search is taking place in several locations in the Montérégie region, including the Coteau-du-Lac area, where the girl was reported missing on Sunday afternoon, and near Highway 30 in Vaudreuil-Dorion, where a dog that may belong to the girl was found on Monday.

The child was last seen on Sunday at around 9:45 a.m. on Newman Boulevard in the LaSalle borough of Montreal. The girl’s disappearance was reported at around 3 p.m. in Coteau-du-Lac, in the Montérégie region, about 50 kilometres to the west.

Sûreté du Québec says the girl is three feet tall, has brown hair and eyes and was last seen wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a pink collar, grey pants, and no shoes.

Anyone who sees the girl or has information about her whereabouts is asked to contact police.