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A 10-year-old Stanmore Bay girl kicked desperately at a car door as a man tried to force her inside during an abduction attempt in the suburb yesterday.
Speaking to media at the site of the attempted kidnapping today, the girl and her parents said they were still "shocked" by the ordeal.
Orewa police have launched a manhunt for the alleged attacker and are calling for sightings of a black or dark coloured 4WD vehicle with a distinctive "silky red seat".
Police are praising the actions of a man driving a van who intervened, stopping the attack. The man tried following the would-be abductor in his van but ran out of fuel.
Standing beside her parents at the site today, Katie said she was walking up a gentle hill on Waiora Rd, opposite Stanmore Bay School, between 2pm and 2.15pm on Tuesday when the man tried to kidnap her.
Katie said he pulled up in a 4WD vehicle, parking beside her before stepping out and approaching her.
"He got out of the car and said: 'Hi' and then he grabbed me on the back and on the legs and said: 'I'll kill you if you don't get in the stupid car'," she said.
"I struggled a bit more and I shouted out: 'Mum! Help!' and then I think he saw that man in the van and just got back in the driver's side and drove off, leaving me half on the path and half on the road."
Katie said she ran off crying before woman came out of a nearby home and drove her home.
She said she was grateful to the man who intervened.
She said he asked her if she knew the man who had grabbed her and she told him she didn't so he followed him. Asked what she would say if she had the chance to speak with the man who intervened, Katie replied: "I'd say thank you for going after the man, you did a great job'."
Clearly still shocked from the ordeal, Katie's parents, wishing only to be known as Andy and Janet, said they were proud of their daughter, who had been taught how to act in such a situation.
"I'm really proud of her. I think I'll be proud of her for the rest of my life," Andy said, his voice cracking.
Andy and Janet said they moved to New Zealand from the United Kingdom with Katie's sisters - aged 12 and seven - in October last year and were surprised to be involved in an attempted kidnapping.
"(I'm) still in shock," Andy said. "This sort of thing doesn't happen in New Zealand.
"That gentleman who chased him, I just can't thank him enough, I really can't. We could be talking about something a lot worse today if he hadn't been there."
Asked what he had to say to his daughter's attacker, Andy said: "I hope they catch him very soon and I hope he rots in hell.
"He's obviously a dangerous man and he's got to be off the streets."
Detective Mark Palma of Orewa CIB said police were conducting further area inquiries today.
Police would like to hear from anyone who may have been approached in similar incidents.
Mr Palma said no other reports of suspicious activity had been received by police. Four officers were working on the case.
Police are calling for sightings of a black or navy 4WD vehicle with a tyre on its rear in the Stanmore Bay area at about 2pm on Tuesday.
The vehicle had a distinctive red silky seat cover.
The attacker is described as a male Caucasian in his late 30s or early 40s, between 180cm and 185cm tall and with black hair.
The man had some facial hair on his chin and was wearing jeans and a black jacket, with white writing on the sleeves.
