‘Missing’ child sparks protest

Bushes set alight – but no sign of girl

MASS hysteria broke out in Port Elizabeth’s northern areas yesterday after rumours of a girl being kidnapped in Helenvale spread through the community.

A massive search took place with police scouring streets and bushes for a schoolgirl allegedly abducted by a man in the morning. The K9 Unit and police helicopter were called in to assist.

It was believed that a girl wearing an Alpha Primary School uniform had been dragged into the bushes near Gail Road.

But police spokesman Captain Alwin Labans said all Alpha Primary School pupils absent yesterday were accounted for.

Police officers were dispatched to the pupils’ homes to verify their whereabouts, he said.

No parent or guardian has come forward to report a missing child.

Labans said police were not ruling out the possibility of a crime but they had done everything in their power to find information to back up the allegations.

-Eleanor Douglas-Meyers