Hospital favoured as drop-off point for missing toddler

Aisling Symes

Anyone holding missing West Auckland toddler Aisling Symes should think about dropping her off at a hospital so she can be returned to her parents, police say.

There has been no sign of the two-year-old since she went missing from Longburn Rd, Henderson about 5.30pm on Monday.

More than 100 police officers and volunteer searchers have scoured the area but failed to find any sign of Aisling, leading police to believe she was abducted.

Investigation head Inspector Gary Davey said if Aisling had been abducted, she should be delivered to a safe place, preferably any hospital in the Auckland region.

"Our primary aim is to have Aisling returned to the safety of her family as soon as possible," Mr Davey said.

" As every hour passes, her family, friends, police and members of her community become increasingly distressed.

"If she was returned safely to a safe place the chances of her survival are greatly improved.

"In short, if anyone knows where she is or who she is with, they need to return her to where she belongs or they need to contact us."

Police have still to hear from an Asian woman walking her dog on Longburn Rd, seen with Aisling shortly before her disappearance.

Mr Davey said the public should not have a narrow definition of "Asian".

"There are several ethnicities encompassed in the generic descriptor `Asian' - Korean, Thai, Japanese, Indian and several others - and we're very keen to hear from anyone who thinks they might know who this woman is."

Local Chinese language media has also been following the case given the search for the Asian woman.

A member of the public contacted nzherald.co.nz, willing to put up $3000 for information that would lead to Aisling being found but police are not interested in that.

Andy Holbrow said staff at his west Auckland business are "emotionally affected" by the disappearance of Aisling.

He said he is surprised that no one else has put up a reward.

"You never know, do you? It could be just the thing that brings someone forward.

"The sooner it is resolved, the better the outcome," Mr Holbrow said.

But police spokesman Kevin Loughlin said police are not considering a reward and if they were it would have to go through police headquarters in Wellington.

Mr Davey said a reward was not on the cards as there was still strong support from the public.

"It is far too early to talk about rewards at this stage and the support from the public has been tremendous at this stage, I don't believe a reward is either appropriate or necessary given the level of support that is out there," Mr Davey said at a press conference yesterday.

Meanwhile, members of the public have been calling police reporting toddlers who look like Aisling being seen with Asian women.

A little European girl walking with an Asian woman in the Auckland Domain looked so similar to Aisling 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."

- with NZPA