Boy, 3, found safe in Toronto after Amber Alert issued in Sudbury, Ont.

A call to a tip line from a woman being sought in an Amber Alert helped in locating her and her three-year-old son safe in Toronto early Tuesday, say Sudbury, Ont., police, who issued the alert. 

The two were found in the Fort York Boulevard-Lake Shore Avenue West area of Toronto at an address on Bruyeres Mews.

Kaitlynn Dunn, spokesperson with the Greater Sudbury Police Service, said the mother and son were dropped off at the Rainbow Centre Mall on Monday around noon ET. The boy was supposed to be brought back to his guardian, his grandmother.

The grandmother phoned police when the child wasn't returned to her.

"We began checking places that his mother is known to visit," Dunn said.

She said officers also checked with the Ontario Northland and Greyhound "because we always check those in case the person is looking to flee town."

Dunn said that around 3 a.m. Tuesday, an Ontario Northland employee confirmed to police that the pair had been seen boarding a bus in Sudbury en route to Toronto on Monday afternoon.

The alert was issued around 5 a.m. and the boy was reported safe around 7:30 a.m. after a call was placed to the police tip line by his mother, Dunn said. The alert was lifted around 7:55 a.m.

Dunn said the mother and child are in good health, and Sudbury police will investigate to determine "the intent of taking the child" and whether any charges will be laid.

Get an alert? Don't dial 911 to complain, police say

The alert went out across Ontario just before 5 a.m. Both police in Sudbury and Toronto confirm calls were made from the public about being woken up by the alert itself.

"A child's safety does trump somebody's sleep," Dunn said.

"We felt it was necessary to put out the Amber Alert in order to ensure he was safely found and it did just that: he was safely found."

Dunn said calls to 911 should only be placed in certain circumstances: "911 is reserved for emergency matters. Your opinion or being upset regarding an Amber Alert is not an emergency matter."

Police said the following criteria to issue an Amber Alert may include:

• The child is under 18 years old.
• There is a belief the child has been abducted.
• There is information available that may help locate the child and/or abductor.
• The alert be issued within a reasonable amount of time from the moment of the abduction.