Baby Kahu's family has faith, says te Heuheu

8.45am

Almost a week after the baby daughter of a prominent Maori couple was kidnapped at gunpoint, the family is certain they will get her back, one of the child's godparents said today.

National MP Georgina te Heuheu declared family members had "unswerving" faith eight-months-old Kahu Durie will be returned.

The child is the daughter of High Court judge Eddie Durie and Waitangi Treaty lawyer Donna Hall.

"This is a large supportive family and they are supporting each other well," Mrs te Heuheu said on National Radio, adding: "They have an unswerving faith that this baby will be returned to their fold."

The baby girl was snatched about midday last Saturday as her mother walked her in a pushchair on a leafy street near the family home in Lower Hutt.

A partially masked man grabbed the baby from Ms Hall and two nieces walking with her and sped away in a light blue late-model car.

Neither the car nor the man has been since and there has been no sign of the kidnapped baby.

Whoever stole the baby has not made a ransom note and police have said they have no idea about the motive for the snatch.

Mrs te Heuheu said today all families regarded their babies as special and so did the Duries.

Ms Hall lost an unborn child about four years and was told then that a baby would be provided for them from the whanau.

"The family said then there will be a baby for you, and that (fact) enabled them to look forward and Kahu came to them."

She added: "They regard their baby as a most special baby; the specialness comes from a number of aspects...this was a whanau adoption.

"She was placed by the family with Donna and Eddie and in addition to keeping the lines of her natural family, her birth parents, she gained additional lines, in this case the lines of Eddie's family.

"So she's clearly special to the whole family and they hold on to that as a symbol of hope and an unswerving faith in God as well."

Mrs te Heuheu declined to comment on whether such "specialness" might have provided an extra motive to a kidnapper as a means of hurting the family.

Meanwhile, police are thinking about posting a reward in the kidnap case.

Spokesman Russell Pilcher told NZPA the possibility of a reward to flush out information that might lead to the kidnapper or the return of the baby was being considered.

"It's an option and we're reviewing all options," he said.

Tomorrow, police plan to put a caravan in St Albans Grove, Lower Hutt, the street where the baby was abducted.

The caravan will be on site from 9am to 1pm to provide a focus to the case.

"We'll be handing out fliers, door knocking and generally involving the community in the search for information," Mr Pilcher said.

Police yesterday confirmed that a possible sighting of the kidnapper's car near Levin last Saturday not long after the child was abducted had been followed up.

But they could not say if the sighting was relevant to the inquiry.

A fireman reported to police that a car similar to that driven by the kidnapped had almost run him down as he attended a major road accident near Levin.

The fireman said the car had pulled out of a long queue of cars, backed up by the crash, and sped past the accident site, nearly flattening him.

He reported the incident after later realising the offending vehicle matched the description of the kidnap car.

- NZPA

Flier distributed by police

Description of suspect

Picture: Kahurautete Durie

Picture: Kahurautete's clothing

Picture: the car being sought by police

Map

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