Police speculation on kidnap vehicle

Press, 9 July 1983, Page 8

Police speculation on kidnap vehicle

PA Dunedin Police investigating the Gloria Kong kidnapping, believe a station-waggon could have been used instead of a van. “We can’t exclude the possibility of a station-wag-gon,” said Detective Brian Pearce, the officer in charge of details relating to the victim, Gloria Kong, aged 14. “This is because Gloria said she was loaded through the back doors of a van, which is reason enough to believe it could have been a station-waggon,” he said. However, he emphasised

the importance of the public’s maintaining an “open mind” on the type of getaway vehicle used in the kidnapping. The police have checked a report regarding two farmhands who left their jobs the night before the kidnapping and have not been seen since, but they are not prepared to comment further. The press officer for the police, Senior-Sergeant R. G. Middlemiss, said another report suggesting that the police had singled out one group of people for closer investigation was untrue. “We have not singled out one group. We are still

trying to eliminate people,” he said. He was unable to confirm whether a note had been left on a service station forecourt on Thursday afternoon.

Detective Inspector Neville Stokes, who is handling the investigation, said the operation was proceeding vigorously on all fronts. People were being interviewed, houses checked, and vans examined. “There can be no reduction in effort on our part, and the public must continue to do its bit,” he said. “We will get there, but it’s going to be a long slog.”