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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be perplexed and pissed off at missing child?!

37 replies

FoxieFoxton9 · 07/12/2018 23:55

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6469325/Police-appeal-witnesses-nine-year-old-girl-missing.html

Seriously?! Police are issuing an appeal TEN MONTHS after she went missing?!

They're not releasing her name in case she has changed her identity ?! Even if she has, surely no harm in saying what she had previously been known as?!

She was getting in a taxi by herself?!

The only photo of her looks like it was taken in the 1930s?!

No grieving frantic parents?!

Issuing a public appeal "as a last resort"?!

This has been bugging me all day... if she was white, and blonde haired and blue eyed like a certain "missing" child we'd never hear the end of it. Poor poor girl :((( Failed by the Police.

OP posts:
Teachermommy · 07/12/2018 23:57

How very strange. There must be more to it than we know.

WishingIDidnot · 07/12/2018 23:59

I thought the same OP.

Keep thinking about the poor girl Sad

Cranky17 · 07/12/2018 23:59

There is way more to this story that is not been told..
it doesn’t say she was on her own getting a cab.
The whole thing makes no sense tbh

FoxieFoxton9 · 08/12/2018 00:02

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

EdtheBear · 08/12/2018 00:03

Very strange.
My guess is the police don't actually believe she got into a cab alone. But are trying to get her picture out there to see if anyone recognises her.

cowfacemonkey · 08/12/2018 00:03

Actually it says they are re-appealing so maybe it wasn't picked up by the national press the first time round. I'm sure there are probably reasons behind not releasing names and maybe if there are no parents then she is a looked after child or possibly trafficked?

boringlyboring · 08/12/2018 00:08

😮 I skimmed past this earlier, only looked at the photo and thought it was some historic case being rehashed.

I can’t believe that’s the best thing they have to go on. There must atleast be a school photo??

Nothing about this case seems right.

I suspect you will get deleted soon though OP

sherrysfortea · 08/12/2018 00:08

The Twitter link says the police are re-appealing, so presumably they have appealed prior to this?

ButteryParsnips · 08/12/2018 00:14

That's really weird. To not release any name, even a first name, seems like too much of a barrier on any chance of getting information.

BabySharkAteMyHamster · 08/12/2018 00:15

Her eyes look so bloody sad in that photo :(

Surely the police could.have worked on it to enhance the image at least ??

makingmiracles · 08/12/2018 00:19

FIrst thought is she’s probably being trafficked

cowfacemonkey · 08/12/2018 00:21

I agree makingmiracles and I suspect a large part of this investigation is about pinning down traffickers rather than actually having any hopes of finding the girl at this point.

greendale17 · 08/12/2018 00:23

Why isn’t this being given any publicity? This whole story is strange

BumsexAtTheBingo · 08/12/2018 00:35

I imagine it’s a family abduction and they are maybe concerned she’s been taken out of the country rather than her being at risk of physical harm.

Rubies12345 · 08/12/2018 00:43

I think it's a divorce thing like the father/mother has taken her back to their original country, something like that

HestiaParthenos · 08/12/2018 00:45

I'm not good with faces, but is it just me or is this photo so bad there's little to no chance of anyone recognizing the girl?

Especially if they saw her only once.

lostinjapan · 08/12/2018 00:47

Surely it's obvious OP that this isn't a Madeleine McCann/Ben Needham type abduction? There's clearly a lot that the police aren't telling us. I don't know why, but I'm sure they have a good reason for being so secretive.

Perfectly1mperfect · 08/12/2018 00:50

Poor girl.

There's no need for you to be horrible about other missing children cases though.

Fatted · 08/12/2018 00:50

She has evidently been abducted or taken by a family member and been reported missing by her parent(s). They likely have an idea of where the child has gone, they are hoping someone from the family or community speaks up to confirm their suspicion.

This happens so often. Especially when victims of domestic violence flee. The abuser then goes onto to report the children missing to police as a way of hunting down where the victim has gone.

icclemunchy · 08/12/2018 00:57

This is round the corner from me and the first I've heard of it 😔

Poor wee thing looks so sad in that photo

SadOtter · 08/12/2018 01:04

They can't actually think anyone will recognise her from that photo? I mean unless you had seen her passport, but then you'd know her and know she was missing so wouldn't need it to be in the paper?

There has to be a lot more to this story, they've not said if she was alone in the cab, or a time, or any of the details you would usually expect, my first thoughts was maybe the mini cab driver was related/knew her, because cab drivers are registered, they have the place she was picked up and a description of the driver and the cab and its says private hire, which are only allowed to pick up pre-arranged bookings, not from the rank, so to me that says they already know who was driving, they are looking for them rather than trying to identify them.

Jeanclaudejackety · 08/12/2018 01:11

It's really sad and at the heart of it is a missing little girl
But we have to remember amid our outrage that there is a lot more to this than we will ever know
More information could be dangerous to her
The police may be treading very xarefully
It may be a familial connection they are investigating
Its not a 9 year old who was snatched outside school one day with a frantic family who have no idea where she is.

Try and remember these things can be very complicated

A lot of missing child cases are where one parent takes a child abroad to be with their family, where they may have originated from. You don't often hear about these cases and often the other parent may use a bounty hunteresque child finder type local service to 'snatch' the child back. There's a lot at stake often in these cases and nothing much the public can do.

The only person that may help in this particular case is this cab driver so this has been released, perhaps reluctantly, in order to find him.

Jeanclaudejackety · 08/12/2018 01:16

Agree with domestic violence aspect as mentioned above

So for example mum might have fled an abusive relationship on the UK to go back home to her country, unable to take child, but arranged with friends or trusted people's to have child dispatched safely to airport to meet with someone who acts as guardian, who may have a fake passport for the child, who takes them on the plane to said country, child is never seen again, disappeared off the map.
Thats a best case scenario type thing but entirely possible

Meanwhile UK authorities have no clue where child has gone and the abusive dad might be reporting child missing expecting international man hunt to find his kid and wife

NewYoiker · 08/12/2018 02:37

God that's awful

BibbityBobbityBollocks · 08/12/2018 09:39

She's been found.
twitter.com/MPSHillingdon/status/1071194041549762561?s=19

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