-
Aisling Symes - Source: ONE News -
Related
Police have called off the search for missing West Auckland toddler Aisling Symes, to resume Wednesday morning.
Aisling, two, went missing from Longburn Rd in the Auckland suburb of Henderson about 5.30pm on Monday.
Search and rescue staff on Tuesday scoured a series of Henderson streams for her.
She was with her parents, who were cleaning a family member's vacant home, when she walked away.
She was last seen talking to an Asian woman with a dog on Longburn Rd.
Aisling had been seen with her own dog, but shortly afterwards the dog returned home without her.
Police don't suspect anything sinister in her disappearance, but say their investigation will consider possible foul play as a matter of routine.
Waitakere area commander Inspector Gary Davey says police are becoming more concerned every hour they fail to find Aisling.
More than 100 people, including search and rescue staff and a police dive team, are examining both the nearby streets and waterways and carrying out inquiries.
"We are looking at the stream down that area which takes you down to Huruhuru Creek," Davey says.
"We know Aisling did like the water and it is one of the major natural hazards in the area along with the roads."
Davey says a child's T-shirt has been found in one of the creeks, but there is no evidence to suggest it belongs to Aisling.
He says there were two sightings of Aisling about 5.30pm on Monday on Longburn Rd.
One was with the Asian woman in her 30s, about 165cm tall with a medium build and long straight black hair.
She was wearing a black crew neck top, with three-quarter length sleeves, three-quarter length blue jeans, black leather sandals and black socks, and had a black and grey medium sized dog on a lead.
Davey says the woman had been seen walking behind Aisling and then touched the back of her shoulder before continuing to walk around a corner.
He says police have yet to speak to the woman and they hope she can help them work out what happened to Aisling.
"There may be language barriers, and maybe she could be frightened to come forward," Davey says.
"But police would dearly like to speak to this woman and find out what she knows."
Aisling is described as being tall for her age, of European appearance, with light brown hair.
She is believed to be wearing a green parka jacket or ski jacket, blue jeans embroidered with flowers, and white tennis shoes.
Anyone with information about Aisling or her whereabouts is asked to contact Henderson police.
Police from Hamilton and Whangarei are on standby to join the search. Sheds, outbuildings, fence lines, or other places where a small child may explore or hide are all being searched.
Latest NZ News Video
-
Kiwi speaks to TVNZ7 from Everest base camp (1:59)
-
Immigration advisor Bill Milnes discusses claims (4:34)
-
Dance to save Shakti service (0:41)
