Kidnapper Phones Boy’s Father

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29258, 16 July 1960, Page 13

Kidnapper Phones Boy’s Father

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 15. . Mr Basil Thorne yesterday spoke by telephone with a man who claimed he was the kidnapper of his eight-year-old son, Graeme.

The man at first agreed to allow Mr’Thorne to talk to his son, but then became evasive and hung up. . The man had telephoned earlier and agreed to certain conditions, and.both Mr Thorne and the Rev. Clive Goodwin, who acted as intermediary, believed him to be genuine. .* Mr Goodwin said today he was no longer prepared to act as an intermediary in the case. He said that for two nights and two days he had done his best to bring about the return of the boy but the people retaining Graeme had failed to take up his offer. Mr Thorne had not previously spoken to the kidnapper. When the man first telephoned the Thornes' flat demanding ransom he spoke to Mrs Thorne.

A senior police officer said today that, several days before the kidnapping, a man resembling a man sought by the police sat in a car outside Scots College and spoke to two seven-year-old boys from the preparatory school. The man asked the boys: “Do you

know Graeme Thorne?” When the boys replied: “Yes, do you want us to get him?” the man said: “No, not now, thank you.” A senior officer engaged in the investigation has been given the task of inquiring among Scots College boys, hoping that his questions may help them to recall something which could be vital. The hunt for the kidnapped boy entered its second week today. Graeme disappeared on his way to school. Later the same morning the kidnapper' telephoned the Thornes’ flat, demanding £25,000 for the safe return of the boy. Police road blocks on all highways in the State were lifted 1 today. Police said they were no longer necessary but coulo be set dp again at short notice. The New South Wales Police

Commissioner, Mr C. J. Delaney, today placed a ban on the indiscriminate dissemination of news on the kidnapping by police. He ordered that any press statements oh this case shall be made only by the C. 1.8. chief, Superintendent R. Walden.

“The object of this is to avoid the publication of misleading reports, to streamline the release of accurate news and to ensure there is no misinterpretation of any developments in the case/' said Superintendent Walden. Superintendent Walden announced later that the search for Graeme and his kidnappers switched today to-Wollongong on the south coast of Nhw South Wales. He said police at Wollongong, 50 miles couth of Sydney, were told to “watch for the release of a young boy. “We have been given some information indicating several foreigners in the Wollongong areas are concerned in the Kidnapping and are said to know the' whereabouts of Graeme Thorne.”

He said he was unable to reveal further details.