"At this point this person has not been located."
Mr Blackwell said some of the information already given to police included the sighting of a truck matching the description "cruising the street in the near vicinity a few hours prior to the incident occurring".
Mr Blackwell asked anyone who may have seen this activity to get in contact. He specifically wanted to hear from construction workers and people working on road works.
The light truck was last seen speeding down Riverton Rd towards Tay St.
Mr Blackwell said the girl had been excused from school for the day.
She and her family were coping well and had good support around them, he said.
Schools in the wider Mount Maunganui area have been reinforcing safety messages.
Mount Maunganui Intermediate principal Lisa Morresey said the school sent a letter home to let parents know about the incident and asked them to revisit key messages with their children around stranger danger.
Mrs Morresey said Year 8 girls at the intermediate attended the Girl's Self Defence Project Aotearoa every year and it was "absolutely great".
"It's about assertiveness, reading the signs and confidence building.
"We had just done it at the beginning of term three, so we're getting teachers to reinforce those key safety messages about walking with a buddy, changing to the other side of the street if you're concerned about anything."
Omanu School principal Rex Allott said the school took part in the Ministry of Education-approved Keeping Ourselves Safe programme every second year, which was running during the next two weeks.
Arataki School principal Dene Langley said he had found out about the incident yesterday and would be asking his staff to run through safety awareness with their students.
