Identikits released after abduction attempt
The Garsfontein police have released identikits of two men wanted for questioning in an attempted abduction enquiry.
The identikits of two men sought after a recent attempted abduction in Moreleta Village have been released.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Dave Miller said the two men were listed as persons of interest after an enquiry was opened at the station.
The mother of the 14-month-old girl said she was shopping in Checkers in Moreleta Village on 29 October when she felt her 14-month-old daughter in a push trolley tug at her hand.
“I had just bent down to get yoghurt out of a fridge when I felt my daughter pull at my hand,” she said.
“At first I thought she was just trying to stand up, but when I turned around I saw a man already holding my daughter in his arms,” she said.
“When I grabbed her back, he said I was overreacting and that he was just making a joke.”
She said the man was then joined by another man and both promptly left the store. They met up with another man outside the store before walking away.
She reported the matter to the Garsfontein police, who opened in enquiry.
Miller encouraged all parents involved in similar situations to urgently report it to the police.
“Even if a child is not taken, the matter should still be reported so that an enquiry can be opened and a breakthrough can be made to link the suspects to other cases in the area,” he said.
Three similar episodes were reported in and around Pretoria the past month.
Last Thursday, eight-week-old Ila Burger was almost taken from her mother Zoë at the Castle Walk centre in Erasmuskloof.
Burger said she was in the parking lot of the centre when a man and a woman, who had followed her in the Woolworths store in the centre, walked up to her and demanded her baby.
Burger screamed for help from security. The man and the woman then left shortly after.
About a week earlier, a woman reported another apparent attempted abduction at the NG Moreleta Park church.
A woman, who asked not to be named, said she and her two-year-old daughter had just walked out of the church when she turned around for a brief moment.
“When I looked back I saw a man holding my daughter’s hand, saying: ‘Come with me, come with me quick.’
“I then confronted the man and told him she was not going anywhere with him. He did not even look at me and just walked away.”
Earlier last month, an attempt was made to snatch three-year-old Abbigail Combrinck outside a Checkers in Raslouw, Centurion.
Miller urged anyone with information on these matters to call officers Captain Terblanche or Warrant Officer Malobe on 012-369-6900 during office hours.
Have you seen these men?
IDENTIKIT A
Clothing: Blue and White check shirt
Jewellery: Gold Stud earring in the right ear
Headgear: Blue cap
Gender: Coloured male
Complexion: Dark
Age: ± 28 – 42 years
Height: 1.79M
Build/Weight: Medium
Hair length: Short
Scars/Tattoos/Marks: Bad skin
Hair colour: Dark
IDENTIKIT B
Clothing: Blue T-Shirt
Jewellery: None
Headgear: Blue cap
Gender: Coloured male
Complexion: Light
Age: ± 25 – 30 years
Height: 1.65M
Build/Weight: Slender
Hair length: Medium
Scars/Tattoos/Marks: None
Also read:
Three-year-old almost snatched from mother’s arms
More attempted child kidnappings
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