Kidnapper 'cased out' school

Sketch of suspect

Police say a man who tried to snatch two teenage schoolgirls probably spent days planning his kidnap attempts.

Officers have released a sketch of the man as they call for public help in tracking him down after the attempted abductions near Western Springs College on Friday.

The sketch is based on the description given by a 17-year-old girl student who was told she would be shot if she did not get into the car on Meola Rd at 8.30am. She screamed and ran to the school where staff alerted police.

Two hours later, a 14-year-old was dragged into a car as she walked to school on Motions Rd in Western Springs about 10.30am.

She jumped out of the car at an intersection, and ran to her nearby home.

Police have not yet confirmed whether it was the same man. But Detective Sergeant Glenn Baldwin, from Avondale Police, said it was likely because of the proximity of the attempts and from the descriptions of witnesses.

There were no strong leads yet on the man's identity, but criminal profiling suggested he had cased out the area in the days before the abduction.

"There is little likelihood of somebody just deciding 'I'm going to abduct a schoolgirl' out of the blue. So there may have been some activity leading up to it, such as sitting and watching children leaving or going to school, a car kerb crawling, or even approaching children.

"That would be consistent behaviour from somebody building up to an attempt to abduct."

Police were asking the public to try and recall whether they saw anyone behaving strangely around Westmere or Point Chevalier last week.

The car involved in the second incident has been identified as a dark grey four-door Honda Accord or Vigor. The car in the first incident has not been identified but had been variously described as light or dark grey.

He said the 14-year-old was unhurt, other than minor abrasions from jumping out of the car while it was moving.

"She's a gutsy kid. Ultimately, it's fortunate they were the only injuries she got. The what-ifs are quite frightening."

Although there were witnesses, including power line workers who heard the girl yelling and saw her legs hanging out of the car, nobody got its full registration number.

Anyone who now recalled anyone behaving in a way that had registered as somewhat unusual should notify police.

As the school reopened today after the weekend, he asked students to use commonsense by travelling in groups, and avoiding shortcuts that took them off the main roads.

Police were meeting with staff today and would address the school's assembly to try to jog memories.

The offender is a European in his late 20s to early 30s, 1.75m tall, has a skinny build, hazel eyes and a croaky voice.

Police appealed for witnesses to call the Auckland City District Crime Squad on 09 302 6789.