No leads in girl's case

There were no fresh leads in the investigation of an alleged attempted abduction of a Cromwell girl 10 days ago, police said yesterday.

''We realise that people are concerned about this incident and we're doing our best, but there's no new leads, '' the head of Cromwell police, Sergeant Simon Paget, said.

''We're pretty much relying on information from the public so need to hear from anyone who witnessed it, or sighted the vehicle, or can identify the suspects, to progress things.''

A 12-year-old girl was followed by two men in a white van on Friday, December 7. One of them allegedly grabbed her off her bike in Blyth St, while she was on the way home from a shop about 4pm. She managed to break free and the men drove off.

Police would not speculate on whether the alleged offenders, two dark-skinned men, were believed to live in the area, Sgt Paget said.

''At this stage, we're not ruling anything out. We have made extensive inquiries and failed to locate their vehicle, so think if it was around Cromwell, it would have been uncovered by now.''

It was an ''active investigation'', he said.

''We may go back to the young person concerned, to see if she's remembered anything else, but other than that, we're relying on information from the public.''