POLICE are continuing their investigation into an abduction attempt of a young girl on Wednesday afternoon, with facial recognition teams from Adelaide expected to visit the region this week.
The incident occurred when a young girl was walking home from school at around 3.45pm and a red Suzuki sedan pulled up alongside her on Tumut Drive.
A Caucasian man with sunglasses dressed in all black clothing grabbed her wrist, however she wrenched free and ran away.
Limestone Coast Police officer in charge Superintendent Grant Moyle said yesterday no suspects had been identified, however police were treating the incident as “very genuine”.
“The investigation is ongoing and so far we have undertaken inquiries with registered owners of vehicles matching the description,” Supt Moyle said.
“Facial recognition experts are expected to arrive from Adelaide this week to obtain information from the girl about the man’s appearance.”
Supt Moyle said he appreciated the community’s concern regarding the incident and encouraged people to come forward if they have any information.
“This incident is very rare for Mount Gambier and we have not had any reports of similar incidents occurring since Wednesday,” he said.
“We have still increased our patrols around schools as a precaution.”
The victim’s mother posted the details of the incident on Facebook on Wednesday evening to alert the wider community.
“Today after school as my daughter was walking home a red Suzuki sedan pulled up alongside her,” the post said.
“A man got out and grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her into his car at 3.45pm on Tumut Drive near the park – she was lucky and pulled away and ran home.”
The post – in which the victim’s mother pledged for the community to ‘keep our children safe’ – has been shared more than 850 times on Facebook.
Police are urging anyone who may have information regarding the incident or saw the car in the area to report details online at crimestopperssa.com.au or contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
