THE HEAD of the New Zealand police team searching for missing toddler Aisling Symes made a personal plea for her return yesterday.
It is now a week since two-year-old Aisling, whose father Alan is from Stradbally, Co Waterford, disappeared from the Auckland suburb of Henderson.
Henderson police Insp Gary Davey appealed “to the person who has Aisling, or the person who knows where she is, to contact me directly on 0800 4 2475 464”.
The last seven digits spell out Aisling on a touch-tone phone.
Mr Davey also asked that “they drop Aisling to a place of safety, like a hospital”.
There are now 60 police officers working on the case, but they admit they have no strong leads.
To help encourage anyone with information to contact police, video footage of Aisling dancing in her family home was released. “While it is heartbreaking footage to see given the current circumstances, we feel it humanises Aisling even more than a still photograph can,” Mr Davey said.
“While several people of interest have been profiled by the intelligence section and suspect team, we have not had any strong information that might lead us directly to Aisling.”
Family and friends of Aisling’s parents, Alan and Angela, prayed for her safe return at their place of worship, Ranui Baptist Church, in the morning.
The Symes family, which has asked for privacy, was not at the church. But the congregation of about 300 prayed for Aisling.
“I don’t think we’ve ever experienced as a church the week this week has been. I was sitting with the family on Monday night thinking ‘look, this will all be over in a few hours’, ” said Pastor Russell Watts.
Pastor Watts has been with the family every day since Aisling went missing. He believes prayers will help bring her back.
“We want to see that person stop sinning today and return little Aisling,” he said.
A resident on the street from where Aisling disappeared told the television station TVNZ people are now afraid to let their children out. “You would normally see kids riding bikes and playing up and down the street . . . If you look down there now it’s deserted,” said Ian Holmes.
In an interview with Marian Finucane on RTÉ radio on Saturday, Mr Symes said the family is trying to be positive but that every possible explanation for Aisling’s disappearance is playing in their mind. “Every single scenario, from someone who is maybe reclusive or manic depressive, has grabbed her and taken her in . . . we have gone from that right up to – and it upsets me when I think about it – abductions and ‘stolen to order’ and all that kind of thing,” he said.
“What we are hoping is that whoever has her . . . may be slightly reclusive and shut themselves off from what is happening in the real world.
“I will say again, we just hope that this person is looking after her well.”