Gut instinct led officer to abducted 5-year-old

Kaiate Falls Reserve, where the girl was found with her abductor. Picture / Alan Gibson

A veteran policeman says gut instinct helped him find a 5-year-old girl who was abducted by a stranger and taken to a remote spot yesterday.

Sergeant Dave Thompson found the girl 45 minutes after she was taken by a youth in a car while walking to school with her 7-year-old brother.

The Tauranga officer was called to join the search and headed straight to Kaiate Falls, 5km up a windy road near Welcome Bay.

"I just had a feeling that might be a good spot to go," he said.

"That five minutes was the most significant of my career, especially for that little girl."

Police had mounted a massive search after the girl's brother ran to their school, Maungatapu Primary, and alerted teachers at 9am.

Mr Thompson, who has an intimate knowledge of the area as co-ordinator of the Tauranga police search and rescue team, drove to the Kaiate Falls Reserve, where he saw a white car on the road.

Inside was the girl and an 18-year-old youth, who has since been charged with abduction and four counts of indecent assault.

He also faces one charge of robbery after he allegedly assaulted a youth in Welcome Bay on Wednesday.

He is due to appear in the Tauranga District Court today.

Police said the youth approached the girl but they would not say whether he lured her into the car or forced her.

The reserve is 13km from Maungatapu School and the drive takes about 15 minutes.

Mr Thompson said he felt sick about the girl's ordeal but immensely relieved to have found her.

He said he did only what any other police officer in his position would have done.

But the officer in charge of the case, Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner, said Mr Thompson deserved the highest praise for finding the girl.

"The sergeant's actions in locating her so quickly possibly saved her from much more serious injury or from death."

Mr Turner said police were about to set up roadblocks on all major roads out of Tauranga and planned to search every car.

Every available police unit in the western Bay of Plenty was called to join the search and the police Eagle helicopter also combed the area.

Mr Turner also praised the girl's brother for raising the alarm so quickly. "That played a big part in the rapid response."

Parents collecting their children from Maungatapu School yesterday afternoon said they were horrified.

"It freaked me out. It made my stomach stir," said Raewyn Garner, a mother of seven. "You've got to keep an eye on your kids so closely."

Another mother whose 5-year-old daughter sometimes walks to her grandmother's house with her 8-year-old cousin said she would be thinking again about the trips.

The grandmother said she planned to have a "big talk" with her grandchildren about their safety.

"Without terrifying them stupid, we've got to work out something that's practical for them."

Maungatapu School principal Sue Horne sent a letter home with pupils outlining what had happened and saying police were called immediately.

The letter said the school had other emergency procedures in place that had been followed, including extra checks on all children absent from school yesterday.

It urged parents to reinforce safety messages to their children.

Police are appealing for sightings of a 1991 white Mitsubishi Lancer in rural and urban areas of Welcome Bay yesterday morning.

They are also asking for sightings of the car in the area on Wednesday afternoon.