Mother of abducted girl describes daughter’s ordeal
The mother of an eight-year-old schoolgirl who was snatched from Moate told today how her daughter escaped from her abductor and hid as he hunted her down.
Gardai in Co Westmeath continued to search for the kidnapper as Kathleen Maughan described how her daughter Mary was dragged screaming into his car shortly after she got off a school bus.
A neighbour alerted police after seeing the youngster being bundled into the sports car yesterday.
The neighbour, named only as Mrs Rooney, gave chase at high speed in her car but was unable to catch the man.
Meanwhile police ringfenced much of the midlands in a desperate bid to find the abductor, after Kathleen and her common-law husband Paul Joyce told them Mary had failed to return home from school.
Five hours later a newspaper journalist and a cousin of Mary, who were driving around the village, found the youngster and took her to police.
Ms Maughan, 34, said the abductor, who was in his 30s, snatched her daughter after asking her for directions on the country lane, less than 200 yards from her home.
‘‘He overpowered her. She started screaming when he abducted her. He threw her into the car and her nose hit the window and she went through a bit of an ordeal,’’ she said.
‘‘I think he may have slapped her or hit her but she has no bruises.’’
She told RTE radio how Mary escaped after five hours of terror being driven around the region in the Toyota Corolla.
‘‘He got out of the car to go to the toilet and she jumped out and climbed over a wall and hid. He was looking for her but she got away.
‘‘He was searching for her so she ran off and then saw my nephew.’’
Mary escaped largely unscathed from her ordeal. Police said a medical check showed she had no physical injuries.
‘‘I do not know how to thank Mrs Rooney because she saved Mary’s life yesterday.
‘‘She was so vigilant, we wouldn’t have known what had happened otherwise. It could have been a sadder story today, Mary could have been dead,’’ Ms Maughan said.
Meanwhile officers were continuing the manhunt.
Superintendent Kevin Donoghue from Athlone Garda station said Mary did not know her abductor.
‘‘We have interviewed this little girl. She has been through a traumatic five hours and as the coming days unfold we will have a better idea of what happened when she was missing,’’ he said.
‘‘During the period between 4pm to 9pm she, along with her lone male abductor, made a number of journeys around the general midlands area.
‘‘We would certainly be looking for people in that area who saw the dark green Toyota Corolla car.
‘‘Our key objective at this stage is to establish the identity of the gentleman and seek him out and speak to him.’’
The abductor was described as clean shaven and wearing a blue top. He was 5ft 4in tall with short black hair. The car he was driving was said to have the letters OY in the registration.
At the height of the search hundreds of officers were drafted in from neighbouring forces to search for the youngster, who was a pupil at the girls’ National School in Moate.
