Toddler's lookalikes spark calls to police

Aisling Symes

A little European girl walking with an Asian woman in the Auckland Domain looked so similar to Aisling Symes the police had to hold a photo of the missing girl next to her face to rule her out.

The incident was one of several false sightings police responded to yesterday, following calls from members of the public.

But they have warned the public not to persecute "Asian women walking down the road".

Auckland City Council parks officer Graeme Davies followed a woman and child around the Domain's Wintergardens pavilion yesterday afternoon concerned that the little girl, who looked to be about 2 years old, was Aisling.

He said the four other council workers in the gardens agreed she looked similar so he called the police.

"I phoned 111 and then followed them around, keeping a bit of a distance, trying to be inconspicuous.

"She looked a lot like the girl that's been in the media. A council ranger approached the woman and asked who the little girl was. She said, 'My daughter', but she was Asian with long dark hair and the girl was European."

The toddler seemed relaxed looking at the goldfish and sometimes held the woman's hand, Mr Davies said.

The police arrived soon after to question the woman and phoned other people to confirm her story.

They had to look at a photo of Aisling next to the little girl's face as the pair were so alike, Mr Davies said.

"I said, 'Sorry, I just couldn't let her go'," he said.

"They said it was okay, 'She looked so similar, don't worry about it'... It was better to be safe than sorry."

Police also swooped on a middle-aged Asian couple pushing a European toddler in a pushchair on Dominion Rd in Mt Eden North.

The child turned out to be 20-month-old Ellen, whom the couple was babysitting, stuff.co.nz reported.

The couple led two officers to an office block where the child's mother, Karen McChesney, was interviewed.

"I can't imagine what they [Aisling's parents] are going through," Ms McChesney said.

"Their girl is the same age as mine and I would be totally devastated if I was in their shoes."

One of the Asian babysitters, Allen Yang, said he was shocked when officers descended on him and his wife. "I had seen the little girl on the news so I understand why they did [it]."

Inspector Gary Davey said at a press conference yesterday afternoon that police had received a number of calls from the public but none of the sightings had panned out.

"What we don't want to do is look at the public persecuting Asian women walking down the road. What we would say is that sightings that are out of the ordinary or fit the description should be reported to police.

"We will investigate that professionally and thoroughly, but we don't want to be victimising anybody out there. That is unnecessary."

TV3 reported yesterday morning that police were going to an address in Henderson after a possible sighting of Aisling, but the story was later taken off the network's website.

Police searching for Aisling were yesterday looking at any reports of suspicious behaviour in the Henderson area in the past few weeks, particularly involving child-related offending.