Search on for girl's kidnapper

Two sisters of a 5-year-old girl snatched from a Palmerston North street on her way to school repeatedly punched her abductor as he pulled her into his car.

Shekinah Relies-Skipper was kidnapped by the man in Shamrock St as she was walking with sisters Finesse Te Kira-Skipper (7) and Rehia Skipper (8) to nearby Te Kura o Takaro primary school about 8.30am yesterday.

Their mother, Charlene Te Kira, described the moment her two daughters came running back to their Burns Ave home with a Shamrock St neighbour.

They were yelling: ‘‘A man's taken her.''Ms Te Kira said she was ‘‘absolutely hysterical'' when she heard the news.‘‘I didn't want to talk to anyone except the police,'' she said.

The two older girls punch

ed the man repeatedly to try to stop the abduction, she said, but their efforts were in vain.

A man living in Shamrock St near the school said he ran on to the street after hearing the girls screaming.

Two girls were banging on the window of a car in which another girl was inside, he said, describing them as ‘‘distressed''.

Police launched a large-scale manhunt in a bid to find Shekinah and her kidnapper, and a helicopter searched the area.

About two hours later, Shekinah was dumped 6km away in Hind Pl, where she was found by 91-year-old Bill Gilliland. Detectives rang Ms Te Kira to tell her a girl matching Shekinah's description had been found.

‘‘I was so relieved when we found her,'' she said. ‘‘You hear a lot of stories where kids don't come back.''Her daughters had a description of the man and ‘‘a lot'' of DNA evidence might have been found on Shekinah's school uniform, she said.‘‘I've heard he's been hanging around Takaro Park a lot,'' Ms Te Kira said.

The park is near the school where the three girls are pupils.

The trio would never walk to school unaccompanied again, Ms Te Kira said.

The relieved mother and Shekinah returned home yesterday afternoon, following a check-up at the local hospital.

Mr Gilliland, a retired dairy farmer, came across a distraught Shekinah crying on a street corner as he was returning home from dropping his wife off at a hair appointment about 10.30am.

‘‘On the way back, I saw her on the corner wandering around,'' the great-grandfather said. ‘‘I could see she was in trouble and it all started from there.''

Initially, he thought she was simply lost, he said.‘‘I had just turned into Hind Pl and I could see she was really upset and didn't know a thing where she was.''He drove her around a nearby street to see if she could spot a familiar house, he said. ‘‘She couldn't tell me where she came from." He took Shekinah to his neighbour's house and called the police.

The girl did not talk about her ordeal, he said. She did not have any obvious signs of physical injury or ripped clothing.

Manawatu area commander Inspector Sarah Stewart said police were continuing to support Shekinah and her family. A team of 30 ‘‘experienced and capable'' officers and detectives were working on the case, trying to find the man, Insp Stewart said.

The man, who was believed to have been driving a four-door white sedan, was still on the loose last night.‘‘Situations like this very rarely occur in New Zealand and we are thankful Shekinah has been found safe by a member of the public,'' Insp Stewart said.

Police were keen to hear from anyone who might have seen Shekinah being dropped off by a man in a white vehicle.‘‘People would have noticed a 5-year-old being left by herself on the side of the road.''

 

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