Police have begun a second day of searching for Kiesha Abrahams, a curly-haired six-year-old missing from her home in Sydney's west.
The little girl had been safely tucked into bed on Saturday night, but yesterday morning her mother found her bed empty and no sign of her.
Kiesha was probably barefoot and wearing her pink pyjamas and lilac Pumpkin Patch jacket, police said.
"She'd be hungry by now, she loves her food," her mother's friend Alison Anderson said yesterday afternoon, 18 hours after Kiesha was last seen.
Police have set up a command post outside the Mount Druitt apartment block where the family of four live.
They are considering searching bushland at Bidwill, a few kilometres north of Mount Druitt, but are today concentrating on searching closer to Kiesha's home, a police spokeswoman said.
The first 24 to 48 hours were crucial, Police Minister Michael Daley said yesterday.
Kiesha, a kindergarten student at Mount Druitt Primary School and older half-sister to a two-year-old boy and one-month-old girl, is described as a "happy-go-lucky girl".
Her mother, Kirsty, called the police as soon as she discovered her oldest daughter missing between 9am and 10am yesterday.
She had put her daughter to bed at 9.30pm on Saturday, and the unit was locked. But when she noticed the girl was missing, the front door was unlocked and there were no signs of forced entry.
The weather was fine overnight on Saturday and for much of yesterday, with just a light drizzle about 6pm, Inspector Lagats said.
About 100 officers and SES volunteers combed bushland, parkland, ponds and stormwater drains near her Mount Druitt home yesterday until the search was scaled down at nightfall. The police helicopter had searched ponds and waterways and police dogs had also been deployed, he said.
"She does not wander away. She has never left her home," Ms Anderson said. "That's what we find very unusual. Her mum is very very cautious on everything."
Jim Taupau, the father of Kiesha's stepfather, said the girl was scared to go out by herself and her mother always took her with her. Kiesha's stepfather - the father of Kiesha's two younger siblings - mother and biological father, who lives nearby, were all helping police with their inquiries, Inspector Lagats said.
"We are open to all lines of inquiry … the child may have walked off, or may have met with foul play," he said. "Obviously due to the child's age of being six, we hold fears for her safety."
Ms Anderson said Kiesha's mother was shocked and the whole family were "a mess". She, Mr Taupau and other friends and relatives had gone out with photographs to speak to people in the area, looking for the girl.
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Every parent's nightmare
Every parent's nightmare
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Every parent's nightmare
It is every parents nightmare and one I went through when the Hatch was 4 months old.
My Aunt's backdoor was open to catch the evening breeze as it had been a stinking day.
I went to check on the Hatch in her crib. There was no Hatch in the cot.
After a frantic 10 minutes searching with all involved, I totally stripped the cot. There, snuggled right at the end of the cot was the Hatch, sound asleep, oblivious to the fuss that had gone on around her.
My Aunt's backdoor was open to catch the evening breeze as it had been a stinking day.
I went to check on the Hatch in her crib. There was no Hatch in the cot.
After a frantic 10 minutes searching with all involved, I totally stripped the cot. There, snuggled right at the end of the cot was the Hatch, sound asleep, oblivious to the fuss that had gone on around her.
Bah!
Re: Every parent's nightmare
Years ago, when my older nephew was just a little kid, I had him with me at a playground. (In Golden Gate Park, I think, but it's been a long time.) He was fooling around on one of those "play structures," I could see him, and everything was fine.
I turned away for a moment (tying my shoe, flicking away an insect, whatever). When I looked back at where he had been, he was gone.
Oh My God.
It turned out to be nothing. He had crawled inside one of the structure's components, and in just a few seconds, his little head popped up through a hole in the top.
But those few seconds could have been a few years. My heart rate must have tripled instantaneously. My brain tried to make my eyeballs look in all directions at the same time. My universe became a riotous swirl of panic, helplessness, and terror.
And he wasn't even my own child.
I turned away for a moment (tying my shoe, flicking away an insect, whatever). When I looked back at where he had been, he was gone.
Oh My God.
It turned out to be nothing. He had crawled inside one of the structure's components, and in just a few seconds, his little head popped up through a hole in the top.
But those few seconds could have been a few years. My heart rate must have tripled instantaneously. My brain tried to make my eyeballs look in all directions at the same time. My universe became a riotous swirl of panic, helplessness, and terror.
And he wasn't even my own child.
Reason is valuable only when it performs against the wordless physical background of the universe.
Re: Every parent's nightmare
I still remember the sick feeling in my stomach when I thought the Hatch had been kidnapped. My sympathies are with the mother. I am sure that there will only be a sad ending to this tale.
Bah!