Kidnapped schoolboy may have left country

Jayden Headley

Kidnapped schoolboy Jayden Headley, abducted a month ago from a Waikato library, may have been taken out of the country.

The Hamilton six-year-old was taken from the Garden Place library on August 18 during a visit with his aunt.

A female, who has name suppression, was charged with his kidnapping. It is believed that Jayden is on the run with his maternal grandfather, 68-year-old Dick Headley.

Jayden's father Chris Jones, who was awarded full custody of his son, last night questioned why police seem unable to locate his child.

"I kind of feel if it was the Prime Minister's son or daughter the child would be found within minutes," Jones said. He is paying three full-time searchers to hunt for Jayden.

"We are running out of places to look. We have stuck posters in supermarkets everywhere and there are just no leads," he said.

Police have had up to 12 detectives searching for Jayden but confirmed numbers had dropped.

"This is very labour-intensive and there are other files and deadlines that we need to work on," Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Bubear said. "This is a well-planned kidnapping, they don't want us to find him until they are ready."

It is understood some family members know where Jayden is but are refusing to co-operate with detectives.

Mr Bubear confirmed that police were looking into the possibility that Jayden may have left New Zealand. He said there was a chance stolen passports had been used to flee overseas.

The TV crime programme Police Ten-7 will broadcast images of Jayden and Headley this week in a bid to try and raise public awareness of their identities.