A nine-year-old girl was found barefoot and crying with her hands bound by zip-ties after she was allegedly abducted by a stranger on her way to school, a witness said.
The little girl was allegedly snatched by a mystery man while heading into school in Warnbro, south Perth, at about 8.45am on Friday.
A concerned parent spotted the girl getting inside a silver ute and reported it to the school who in turn reported the suspicious encounter to police.
‘They thought that was suspicious and immediately reported it to the school,’ Acting Det-Insp. Scott Johnson from the sex crimes division said.
‘The school did their due diligence in checking to see if the child was at school and contacted the parents and she wasn’t so police responded.’
The nine-year-old was quickly declared missing and police launched a large-scale search – before she was found a short time later outside a supermarket.
A family friend said the nine-year-old girl was ‘shaken’ but ‘so, so glad’ to have been returned to her mother.
A nine-year-old girl was found with her hands bound by zip-ties outside an IGA in Port Kennedy (above) on Friday after she got into a stranger’s car
A worried parent spotted the young girl getting a silver car at about 8.45am on Friday while she was heading into school (pictured, the IGA where the girl was found)
The girl’s mother shared a desperate plea online following news of her alleged abduction, writing ‘someone has taken [my daughter] from school’.
‘She was seen being picked up by a man in a grey/silver ute at 8.25am outside of [the primary school] in Warnbro.’
The little girl was found a short time later alone outside an IGA in nearby Port Kennedy.
Det-Insp Johnson said staff spotted her ‘in distress and contacted police’.
‘Shortly afterwards, police from a number of different units swarmed the Rockingham area and located a male in his 30s and what we believe is the vehicle used to take the child,’ he said.
Witnesses told The West Australian the girl’s hands had been bound with zip-ties.
Worker Alicia Janse Van Vuuren said the girl was taken from the small shopping centre in an ambulance.
‘We saw her coming out of IGA and saw her being taken into the ambulance,’ she said.
‘We were shocked by it, she looked tiny. She was crying and distressed.
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‘I thought at first she had lost her mum but she didn’t have any shoes on which I thought was concerning.’
Another witness said they saw police collecting bags of evidence from the scene before leaving at about 5.40pm.
Forensic officers were also seen at a bushland location understood to be connected to the alleged abduction.
WA Police released footage of the dramatic moment officers arrested a man in his 30s driving what is believed to be the car the child was taken in.
The man, wearing a high-visibility work uniform, leaned against a silver ute while officers announced over the radio they had a ‘suspect in custody’.
As of 11pm Friday night no charges were laid in relation to the matter.
The nine-year-old girl was taken to Perth Children’s Hospital to undergo a medical assessment with her family there for support.
She will later be interviewed by specialist child workers to help police better understand what happened.
Det-Insp Johnson said: ‘This is probably one of the utmost serious things that can happen, a young child to go missing, one of the most vulnerable people in our society.’
‘It was a proper response for most of metro [police] to get down here, there was a large contingent of police who were en-route – rapid apprehension squad, child abuse squad, Rockingham detectives.’
WA Police have arrested (above) a man understood in his 30s who was driving the ute they believe the girl was taken in
As of 11pm Friday night no charges were laid in relation to the matter (pictured, the man’s arrest)
He also praised the worried parent who reported the strange sighting.
‘That’s probably one of the primary reasons that this resolved — a parent noticing that something wasn’t right, seeing a child get into a car when they were almost at school and reporting it straight away – it’s of utmost importance,’ he said.
‘It’s one of those things that parents need to have that hard conversation with children about stranger danger and talking to anybody or going with anybody or doing anything online.’
It’s understood the school did not notify parents of the incident until pickup time.
Students were sent home with a note promising ‘support staff’ will be available on Monday.
