Police are investigating the possible abduction of a young girl in St. Léonard, northwest of Montreal, after a man claimed he saw a child being held against her will inside an old, red van.

But Montreal police have still not received any reports of a missing child, leaving investigators to question whether the incident could have been a misunderstanding.

St. Leonard resident Franco Valerio called 911 around 10:30 a.m. Monday after noticing a frightened girl in the back of a minivan in the parking lot of a Maxi grocery store.

Valerio said that he saw an older man walking towards the van while pushing a shopping cart, CTV Montreal reported Monday.

Valerio said he noticed the girl when the man got inside the minivan. He said the girl seemed afraid and had tears in her eyes.

Valerio described the girl as being around eight years old with brown hair, and she reminded him of Cedrika Provencher -- the missing 10-year-old girl from Trois-Rivieres.

Police say the girl may have had a handkerchief in her mouth, the Montreal Gazette reported.

The driver is described as being between 40- to 50-years-old, about 5'10" with long, grey hair and a long, grey beard. The vehicle is believed to be a burgundy-coloured Ford Aerostar.

"It's very dirty with some rust on it," said Montreal police spokesperson Olivier Lapointe.

Cedrika's father, Martin Provencher, remained cautious on Tuesday.

"Let's wait until police find the van," he said.

Police said there is no evidence to suggest the incident has any connection to the disappearance of Cedrika, who went missing on July 31.

"We don't know if we are dealing with an abduction, adding to the fact that there are no calls about a missing girl that would fit that description," said Lapointe.

Witnesses have told police that Cedrika was helping a man search for a lost dog before she disappeared.

Police have received more than 200 calls about the van but haven't found the vehicle or the suspect.

Steve Roberts, a retired Montreal police homicide detective, said cross-checking owners with Ford Aerostars will take time.

"That takes a good two months, and again you might end up with 2000 of them, which again you have to verify starting with the ones closest to the area," he said.

CTV Montreal discovered there are 856 Ford Aerostars from the 1980s registered in Quebec.

Anyone with information is urged to call Montreal police at 514 393-1133.

With a report from CTV Montreal's Tania Krywiak