Vic police consider abduction link
They were both schoolgirls of Asian appearance, walking to school alone in Melbourne's east - but one vanished without a trace while the other was the victim of an attempted abduction.
There are disturbing similarities between the recent attempted abduction of a Boronia schoolgirl and the disappearance of Siriyakorn `Bung' Siriboon from the area four weeks earlier, police say.
Thirteen-year-old Bung disappeared while walking to Boronia Heights College on June 2.
On Wednesday, an 11-year-old girl was walking along Bennett Street in Boronia on her way to school when she was approached by a man wearing a white surgical mask who attempted to entice her into his car.
Homicide Squad Detective Inspector John Potter said the similarities were worrying and he urged people in the area to be alert, adding that police had increased patrols in the area during school hours.
"It is concerning, it's part of the links that one has to make, school uniform, of Asian appearance, close proximity in terms of the Boronia area - the positive in this is that it opens up a new line of inquiry for us," he told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
"We're certainly seeing it as some disturbing similarities and we have to follow those inquiries through."
Police have no suspects for either incident, he said.
In Wednesday's attack, the man, described as Caucasian with short grey hair and aged in his 60s, was driving a dark green Holden station wagon before getting out of the car and approaching the girl.
When he asked if she wanted a lift, the girl said no and pulled out her mobile phone to make a call, which caused the man to flee.
The fact that Bung did not take her phone to school the day she disappeared may have made it easier for her to be abducted, Det Insp Potter said.
"If children have access to a mobile phone, it would be a good thing for them to have it," he said.
He said police had had little success in establishing what might have happened to Bung since she disappeared and urged anyone with information regarding her disappearance to contact police.
He said there were some similarities between both incidents and the Mr Cruel attacks on young girls in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, but there were also "clear differences".
Child rapist Mr Cruel was believed to be responsible for at least four attacks on children, and two of his victims were 13-year-old girls.
While three of the victims were released, Mr Cruel murdered his last known victim, 13-year-old Karmein Chan.
Mr Cruel was never caught but police last year reopened investigations, establishing Taskforce Apollo and offering a $300,000 reward for information to track him down.
"We're not able to draw any conclusions with the Karmein Chan disappearance. We've certainly looked at that and other historical cases but at this stage, there's no connection," Det Insp Potter said.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8267232/vic-police-consider-abduction-link