There is intense police activity tonight near the location where missing toddler Aisling Symes was last spotted a week ago.

Police have gathered in numbers at a private property on Pomaria Rd, around the corner from where Aisling was last seen, on Longburn Rd. Firefighters are also on the scene, with concrete cutters and a large circular saw.

There are reports of digging in bush near the back of the property, which backs onto the former home of her deceased grandparents. Police are searching a septic tank at the back of the property, and have covered the area with a tarpaulin.
 
Source: 3 News
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Police Commissioner Howard Broad says the British aristocrat, Lord Ashcroft, has offered a reward of $50,000 for information leading to the safe return of Aisling Symes.

The number of police now working on the disappearance of Aisling has increased to 70 and Inspector Gary Davey said police had received a lot of information on the case. "We are still appealing for anyone who has her to come forward. We just want her back."

He said today he was still hopeful someone had abducted the toddler and was looking after her but could not rule out other possibilities. "My own genuine hope or gut feeling is that somebody does have her and she is still alive,"."I believe that. I am optimistic, I believe family are and certainly the investigation team are optimistic that we can find Aisling."  "While several people of interest have been profiled by the intelligence section and suspect team, we have not had any strong information that might lead us directly to Aisling," he said. He said police would continue profiling people of interest, and sorting information from the public. Police are also  reviewing CCTV footage from the area.

Yesterday, Mr Davey urged the person responsible either to contact him or drop Aisling at a hospital. "Whoever you are, you might be scared or intimidated by police activity over the past week. Don't be - call me. We just want to know where Aisling is," he said.

The last person to see Aisling was a 9-year-old child - who reported seeing an Asian woman with a dog approach the toddler near her late grandparents' Longburn Rd home just after 5pm last Monday. It is the strongest lead police have and they want to hear from anyone with information on the woman.

News of Aisling's disappearance is making headlines in father Alan Symes' native Ireland. Mrs Symes said Aisling had started learning the Irish counting system and loved potatoes. "She always used to get into the spuds and when she started teething we would find bite marks in the raw potatoes."

Source: The New Zealand Herald
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A week after a 2-year-old Aisling Symes disappeared, police are convinced she was abducted but said Monday (12/10/09) that they had no clues as to her whereabouts or who took her.

Police now have 70 officers working on the disappearance of Aisling, who has not been seen since the afternoon of October 5. They admitted there were no signs of a breakthrough.

The case of Aisling Symes, daughter of Alan Symes and his wife Angela, has gripped New Zealand the way the disappearance of English toddler Madeleine McCann dominated headlines on the other side of the world two-and-a-half years ago.

Thousands of New Zealanders have joined a Facebook site set up by a member of the Symes family to express their sympathy and support.

Inspector Gary Davey, himself a father of two, has made a personal appeal to the kidnapper on Sunday, saying: "Whoever you are, you might be scared or intimidated by police activity over the past week. Don't be - call me. We just want to know where Aisling is."

Source: Earth Times
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A New Zealand couple whose two-year-old daughter vanished this week have been offered support by the parents of Madeleine McCann.

Kate and Gerry McCann said their "thoughts and prayers" were with the family of Aisling Symes, who disappeared from an Auckland suburb on Monday evening.

Mr and Mrs McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, said in a statement: "Our thoughts and prayers are with Aisling and her family. We wish Aisling's parents the strength and support they will be needing at this most painful time, and we join them in hoping for Aisling's safe and speedy return.

"We urge anyone who has any information about Aisling to come forward to the local police as soon as possible and end this family's suffering."

Source: Press Association
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A West Auckland business owner is putting up a $3,000 incentive for information leading to missing two-year-old Aisling Symes.

Andy Holbrow says the case has affected him and his staff and he hopes the incentive of money will help in some way to get the little girl back home.

"We're actually quite surprised nobody else has come out and offered it and if there is anybody out there who wants to add to it, then definitely get in with us."

Mr Holbrow has not yet contacted police about the reward offer.

Source: NZCity
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Police investigating the disappearance of Aisling Symes are urging whoever has her to deliver her to a safe place, preferably any hospital in the Auckland region at any time.

"If anyone knows where she is or who she is with, they need to return her to where she belongs or they need to contact us on 0800 4 2475 464," Inspector Gary Davey said.

Police have not heard from the Asian woman who was seen with Aisling and are urging members of the public not to limit their understanding of what Asian is.

"There are several ethnicities encompassed in the generic descriptor 'Asian' - Korean, Thai, Japanese, Indian and several others - and we're very keen to hear from anyone who thinks they might know who this woman is," Mr Davey said.

Source: New Zealand Police
http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/21232.html

Aisling Symes's disappearance from her deceased grandparents' Longburn Rd home in Henderson has sparked one of the biggest police hunts for years. After three days of searching police have found no sign of the toddler.

Inspector Gary Davey said today it was looking increasingly likely she had been kidnapped. He could not rule out that she may have been stolen to order but that if she was taken to order it would be a very, very rare occurrence. Police don't have any evidence to suggest any scenario but some are more likely than others.

The mystery Asian woman seen with Aisling had still to be identified and there was still a possibility she had no idea of the search or the grief of the parents. If she was the kidnapper, all she had to do was return Aisling, said her distraught parents yesterday.

Police are considering boosting the number of searchers looking for Aisling.

Source: Otago Daily Times
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The distraught parents of Aisling Symes are pleading for her return, three days after she went missing. "These recent days have proven to be the most harrowing of our lives, no sleep and we feel like we're barely existing," says Alan Symes.

The major search has been scaled back as police take Operation Longburn from the streets to behind closed doors where a team of 40 investigators continue to profile people of concern. They are looking at not only "persons of interest"  but also "behaviour of interest" in the last few weeks. Police have visited known sex offenders in the west Auckland suburb of Henderson. They are using local dog registration records to try and locate the Asian woman seen walking her dog near Aisling shortly before her disappearance. More sinister scenarios, like the possibility Aisling was hit by a car then picked up and driven away by a panicked driver, are alsobeing considered.

Police are also working closely with Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey. He says he has been driving around the streets, talking to people who've been searching. He says local people have been disappointed as they thought the young girl would be found in 24 hours.

Source: TVNZ
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/parents-plead-aisling-s-return-3055471