Police: Girl, 11, likely abducted by her father; May be headed for Turkey
This story was updated.
The police are looking for an 11-year-old girl named Melisa who has been missing from Soest since Tuesday afternoon. Her mother reported her missing when she failed to come home from field hockey practice. Police in Utrecht were initially hesitant to say anyone absconded with her, but that changed on Wednesday when they said that the girl's father likely took her.
"It is suspected that she was kidnapped by her father and that the two are on their way to Turkey by car," police said. They asked anyone with information to contact them immediately.
The girl's mother, Jorica Verhoef, wrote on LinkedIn, "Help! My daughter is missing since yesterday. She is kidnapped by her father and probably on the road to Turkey.”
Melisa was described as being 160 centimeters tall, with a slim build. She has medium-length dark blond hair, and wears glasses. She was last seen wearing her hockey club’s green and white uniform and was carrying a hockey stick, but it is possible she changed into another outfit.
Earlier on Wednesday, police were reluctant to label her disappearance a kidnapping. “We will keep it general for now. We do not know whether she was taken against her will because we weren’t there. We also have to deal with the privacy of the girl and her family. Look, in a normal situation, a father is allowed out with his daughter. But we as police do not go searching if it is a normal situation. So more is going on,” a police spokesperson said to RTV Utrecht
The spokesperson added that the police do not currently believe the girl’s life is in danger. “If we had signals that she was in mortal danger, we would have immediately issued an Amber Alert. At the moment, there is no indication that this is necessary.”
The police distributed the girl’s photo, including to airports and train stations. Anyone who thinks they may have seen the girl should call the police.
