海角社区官网

Where did they go for 90 minutes? Did anyone else get in the car?听

What was the driver doing when police finally found the girl (still asleep, officers said) in his vehicle around 12:20 a.m. on St. Helens Ave. in Dufferin Grove?

One thing she does know 鈥斕齛 fact confirmed by 海角社区官网police:听Uber did not help find Amelia.听

“Uber did not provide any assistance,”听海角社区官网police spokesperson Cindy Chung said.

The ride-hailing giant听told the Star it has a “team of former law enforcement professionals around the globe who are on call to work with police 24-7 to respond to urgent needs.”听

But Toronto听police confirmed not one of them got back to any of the officers who stood in the driveway with Viscomi at her partner’s North York home while dozens of cruisers, from across the GTA, searched for Amelia.

“When an hour and a half goes by,”听Viscomi says, her voice breaking, “and they still haven’t found her 鈥� it was terrifying.”

No charges or arrests have been made in connection with the incident, which is not being treated as criminal, Chung said.

Viscomi has spent the past five weeks searching for answers from police and Uber to understand how the driver could have just taken off before Vicsomi and her partner had finished unloading their kids without so much as a “ya got everything?” or a “goodbye.”

Uber initially offered a $10 voucher to be used toward a future ride or its food delivery service.听

“We recognize how distressing this situation was for the family involved and are thankful that the child was safely reunited with their parent,” an Uber spokesperson told the Star in an email. “We immediately began reviewing the details of this incident internally to identify opportunities to improve our processes and support systems. The safety of everyone who uses听Uber听remains our top priority.鈥�

Some media outlets in Canada and the U.S. have already reported bits and pieces of Viscomi’s story, based largely on threads she posted to social media last week to raise public awareness of Uber’s response to the emergency and pressure the company to implement new policies so this never happens to another family.听

The stories, Viscomi says, missed key details 鈥� including new information from the police.

Here’s what really happened.

Viscomi and her partner decided to take their kids on the first day of March break to watch the Raptors take on the Washington Wizards at Scotiabank Arena.听

Amelia is Viscomi’s youngest. The health care worker also has a son, who is seven. Her partner’s children are six and eight.听

When the game ended, they discovered his car had a flat tire. Instead of waiting for CAA, they grabbed the kids’ booster seats and ordered an Uber.

Viscomi rode shotgun. Her partner and his two kids sat in the middle while Amelia and her big brother took the third row.听

When the Uber pulled up to Viscomi’s partner’s house near Yonge St. and York Mills Rd., it was 11 p.m. The driver parked parallel to Viscomi’s car, which was on the street at the foot of the driveway.

Since Amelia was asleep, the couple planned to unload the other kids first.

While her partner was taking out the other three kids and booster seats, Viscomi hopped into her car and听quickly moved it a few feet into the driveway.

“All this happened in a matter of seconds,” Viscomi said. “We didn’t leave her unattended for minutes.”

Tall cedars blocked her view of the street as she jogged back to the road only to discover the Uber was gone.

Viscomi had made small talk with the driver during their 30-minute ride.听She said he told her they were his last passengers for the night and that he’d be heading straight home.

“Hopefully you don’t have far to go,” Viscomi said.

“He said, ‘no.’ East York is what he said.”

Viscomi’s partner called the driver, but got an automated message saying the call couldn’t be connected.

They called Uber’s customer support.听

“We’re begging, pleading, ‘Call the driver, get him to turn around,’” Viscomi said. “They refused. They said it’s against their policy to contact drivers.”

Viscomi called 911.听

Several cruisers pulled up to the house. Viscomi was still at the foot of the driveway hoping to spot the Uber’s headlights. Police called the company from the driveway.听

“Uber refused to give them any information,” Viscomi said. “They refused to call the driver and sent some form to the police to fill out.”

The Star obtained a link to the form, which is supposed to launch a process for police to connect with the company’s law enforcement specialists.

When I clicked on the link police received, it took six minutes before Uber emailed a verification code so I could proceed to the next step of filling out another form.

“A 海角社区官网Police officer submitted a request through our portal the night of the incident,” Uber spokesperson Gabriela Condarco-Quesada said by email. “We responded with identifying information on the driver. Whether 海角社区官网PD used this information to assist in finding the driver, I do not know, but we did fulfil their request.”听

By this point, more than an hour had passed since the Uber had left with Amelia inside.听

Police checked the driver’s house and told Viscomi he wasn’t there.

At about 20 minutes past midnight, roughly 90 minutes after Amelia vanished, police told Viscomi “we have her.”

“Is she OK?” Viscomi asked. “Put her on the phone.”

Amelia is a very chatty little girl her, her mom said, 鈥渂ut she wouldn鈥檛 talk.鈥�

鈥淒o you want us to bring her to you or you to her?鈥� police asked.听

The mom hopped in the cruiser.

鈥淗e told me she would be in an ambulance,鈥� Viscomi said, 鈥渢hat she wasn鈥檛 physically harmed but it鈥檚 protocol to medically check children when they鈥檝e been taken from home.鈥�

When the cruiser pulled onto St. Helens Ave, Viscomi remembers seeing a lot of police cars. Her eyes shot straight to Amelia, who was “hysterical” in the back of the ambulance, sitting next to a female paramedic.

“She was sobbing,” Viscomi said. “She looked inconsolable.”

Police later told Viscomi they had 鈥減inged鈥� the driver鈥檚 phone and that he had pulled over. Police said the driver told him he was making deliveries and didn鈥檛 know the child was in the car.

“For a serious safety incident like an abduction, whether potential or actual,” Uber’s Condarco-Quesada told the Star, “the person reaching out to the driver should be a trained police officer, not a customer support agent. For similar safety reasons, we don鈥檛 connect riders directly with drivers in these situations, as the caller could pose a risk; the caller may be a stalker, a hacker, or another threat.”

The next morning, Uber called Viscomi’s partner. He was too upset to speak. Viscomi said the company forwarded him a $10 credit and promised to never match him with that driver.听

Viscomi called customer support back and asked to speak with a supervisor. She said she was told there are no supervisors.听

She emailed a letter describing her family’s’ experience and concerns with Uber’s emergency policies to the company’s CEO, its chief legal officer and president.

All of the emails bounced back except one directed to customer support.

A few hours later, Viscomi got a call from someone with Uber’s “priority support” team.

Viscomi asked to speak with an executive, but was told that wasn’t possible. More than a week later, Uber’s insurer got in touch.听

Viscomi said she wants Uber to fix its emergency-response policies.

“They outsourced all duty and responsibility to the police, even when they were perfectly able to fix the issue,” she said. “All it would have taken was a single call to the driver.鈥�

She said she was told by the insurer that Uber reviewed its policies and found they’re “not unreasonable.”听

Uber told the Star its “Public Safety Liaison for the 海角社区官网area has attempted to reach out to the 海角社区官网PD to discuss this case further and explore ways to improve collaboration.”