Serbia. French kidnappers claim abduction was part of a paternity scam.

[Anna]

In the first video the Minister is saying they will work around the clock to figure out what the motive was.
Then the reporter is showing the car is saying the car was intercepted on the border where they got the child unhurt and the father later came to pick up his daughter. The minister is saying again that the kidnappers had the passport of a child but they are not sure which child is this because it is a baby photo on it and they are investigating whether the photo of the baby matches the kidnapped child. He said he saw the passport, the photo is of a small child and they would like to know who this child is. Since the passport was produced some time ago this could be her photo or a photo or some other child. They would know the next day if the photo is matching the kidnapped child. They are waiting for more information about this passport from their French colleagues.
The video (cctv) at 1:10 then is showing the part of the kidnapping showing the actual car.Then there is some social worker talking about the unusual profile of the stolen child in this case. Usually a missing child would be known to social services and in her 11 years of her career she's never heard of a similar case of a kidnapping. And in Serbian law this kind of kidnapping is facing the prison term from 3 to 15 years.

In the next video the Minister is talking: he's saying they received a call from area of Vozdovac in capital Belgrade where the child was stolen from mums arms. Their transport police acted quickly and soon they knew the position of the car in question and they deployed the helicopters and intercepting vehicles. The policemen behind him were part of the team trying to intercept the car with kidnappers. At one point they tried to push the child through the window and over a fence but the police persuited them and surrounded them  and prevented this action.

Thank you Vixte,
That is very helpful. So they tried to throw the child out of the window and over a fence..........Why would someone do that?
If the passport photo was a baby photo, it is unlikely they found this little girl with face recognition software, but I could be wrong, as I don't know much about it.

[Brietta]

Thank you Vixte,
That is very helpful. So they tried to throw the child out of the window and over a fence..........Why would someone do that?
If the passport photo was a baby photo, it is unlikely they found this little girl with face recognition software, but I could be wrong, as I don't know much about it.

The only thing I can think of regarding the passport is that dependent on the issue date, they stole the child aged to suit ... and children change so much in months they would probably have gone through a border check with ease.

I have seen it said many times, "Why Madeleine, when there are so many street urchins in the world who would hardly be missed, why take the risk of entering the apartment?"

Why this well nurtured, loved little girl stolen from her mother's arms in broad daylight?

I think the lesson from this very fortunately failed kidnap ... is that normal people just do not have a clue as to how the minds and motivations work of people who would steal a child.

PS ... thanks to VIXTE for keeping us informed, I don't think our press are taking much notice of the case.

[Carana]

Many thanks, Vixte.

No recent updates that I can find. I guess enquiries are still pending.

[Anna]

Minister suspects child was abducted "to be sold"
Source: Tanjug
BELGRADE -- Nebojsa Stefanovic says it is suspected that the French citizens who last week abducted a child in Belgrade were operating as part of a human trafficking ring.

(Tanjug, file)
According to the interior minister, the 2-year-old girl could have been taken in order to be "sold."
The minister told the Pink TV broadcaster on Wednesday that the investigation was developing with "several operative working versions" emerging, and thanked the French police for their cooperation.

Stefanovic also said it would be known "in the coming days" whether the child in question was specifically targeted or chosen randomly.

"The police showed them they should not be doing that in Serbia," the minister said of the kidnappers, and revealed they arrived in the country on March 12, spent much of that day and the followign night in Pancevo, and then headed for Belgrade on Friday, March 13, where they snatched the toddler from her mother while they were walking in the street.

Stefanovic noted that Serbia was "not a high-risk country" when it comes to abductions, but advised parents to "keep an eye on their kids, especially the small ones."

According to the minister, the three suspects, who used stolen Romanian car plates during the kidnapping, made many "illogical statements" while in custody.

The suspects were arrested after a police chase on a highway northwest of Belgrade, when the child was rescued unharmed. A Belgrade court on Monday ordered the French citizens kept in detention for one month.

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes.php?yyyy=2015&mm=03&dd=18&nav_id=93521

[Carana]

Thanks Anna. I can't find a clear view of the entire licence plate. I'm looking for one with the country abbreviation in the blue EU box on the left. I haven't checked, but I can't imagine offhand why Romanian plates would have a large "30" on the right-hand side. They look more like French plates to me at the moment. I could be wrong, though...

[Anna]

Thanks Anna. I can't find a clear view of the entire licence plate. I'm looking for one with the country abbreviation in the blue EU box on the left. I haven't checked, but I can't imagine offhand why Romanian plates would have a large "30" on the right-hand side. They look more like French plates to me at the moment. I could be wrong, though...

I believe that I read, that they had French plates when they were eventually stopped, but possibly had false plates during the kidnap, Carana.
 I will see if I can find that article again

.......................................

Not the one but does say French plates as well.

3 French citizens arrested for kidnapping 2-year old Serbian girl  print
Published on March 13, 2015 by pmnews   ·   No Comments
Police line logo

Three French citizens were arrested in Serbia Friday after kidnapping a two-year-old girl in the capital Belgrade, prompting a movie-style police chase.

Around noon a man snatched the girl from her mother’s arms on the street and fled in a car driven by a woman, police said.

“We heard a voice screaming ‘my child, my child’ and saw a man and a woman who took away the child speeding off in a car,” a witness told national RTS television channel.

Police used cars and helicopters in a sensational chase for some three hours, eventually managing to stop the vehicle with French number plates after it crashed through a ramp at pay toll some 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of the capital, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said.

The girl was found unharmed and returned to her parents, the minister said.

“The kidnappers had French passports so we immediately contacted the French police and learnt that the documents were valid and persons were known to the police there as they had committed a number of crimes before,” Stefanovic said.

He said the motive and whether they targeted a particular child was unclear. They had on them the passport of a French child of a similar age.

In a separate statement, the interior ministry said they were suspected to be human traffickers.

If they are tried in Serbia and convicted, they face up to a 15-year jail term.

http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/03/13/3-french-citizens-arrested-for-kidnapping-2-year-old-serbian-girl/

[Carana]

I think the rumour of Romanian plates is false.

I don't see how they would have taken time to change them after the kidnap. They are definitely French plates on the car.

[Anna]

I think the rumour of Roumanian plates is false.

I don't see how they would have taken time to change them after the kidnap. They are definitely French plates on the car.

They were using French plates when they were caught.
 I think it is possible within the 3 hours that the police had to find them and chase them that they could have changed the plates.
 If they are seasoned criminals as has been suggested, surely they wouldn’t be daft enough to have their own plates on view to the mother and witnesses during the kidnap?
I tried to enlarge the car at the time of the kidnap(from the video) but not very successfully, I’m afraid. Maybe the Romanian plates were found in the car.


Part of the Article:-
According to the minister, the three suspects, who used stolen Romanian car plates during the kidnapping, made many "illogical statements" while in custody.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes.php?yyyy=2015&mm=03&dd=18&nav_id=93521

[Carana]

I have my doubts, Anna. One rumour was that they had been spotted coming in from the direction of Romania at one point... but, as we know, such rumours are often false, possibly based on well-intentioned people trying to help. That may be the origin of the plates issue.

Would they seriously have had time to stop to change plates when witnesses gave the alert immediately?

Why would they have paraded in Romania in a "posh" BMW with local plates? If they had been stopped anywhere in which they had had to give ID, wouldn't French passports with Romanian plates have raised questions?

Why bother to change plates while keeping a prominent Swiss motorway sticker on the windscreen?

[Carana]

Again, reading elsewhere, has it been confirmed that the alleged child whose passport was found is safe - if she exists?

[Anna]

I have my doubts, Anna. One rumour was that they had been spotted coming in the direction of Romania at one point... but, as we know, such rumours are often false, possibly based on well-intentioned people trying to help. That may be the origin of the plates issue.

Would they seriously have had time to stop to change plates when witnesses gave the alert immediately?

Why would they have paraded in Romania in a "posh" BMW with local plates? If they had been stopped anywhere in which they had had to give ID, wouldn't French passports with Romanian plates have raised questions?

Why bother to change plates while keeping a prominent Swiss motorway sticker on the windscreen?

I know how unreliable the press can be, Carana, but none of it makes sense at all really. We will have to wait for further news, with more details, I guess.

[Carana]

I know how unreliable the press can be, Carana, but none of it makes sense at all really. We will have to wait for further news, with more details, I guess.

My previous post should have read from Romania.

Anyway, it seems that there has been a court order to hold them in custody for a month, but it's not clear what the charges actually are. Possibly because no one actually knows what exactly they were up to, but were a threat to the public.

[VIXTE]

I am really curious why exactly that child! I wonder whether we would ever know?

I have seen it on a Croatian news channel they are referring to this case by warning parents not to put photos of their children on Facebook, saying 'putting photos of your children on Facebook is same as standing on a street and sharing the same photos with the passers by'

But I am personally not convinced the kidnappers saw the photos of a random child on facebook and then  they went to a foreign country that actually has a border control and kidnapped a child.. It is just not logical! There must be something else there!

[Anna]

My previous post should have read from Romania.

Anyway, it seems that there has been a court order to hold them in custody for a month, but it's not clear what the charges actually are. Possibly because no one actually knows what exactly they were up to, but were a threat to the public.

They are being held, because of the high risk of them fleeing and while more evidence is acquired from france, apparently, according to press reports. They are probably investigating that passport too. If there is a child, I wonder who is caring for her?

[Anna]

I am really curious why exactly that child! I wonder whether we would ever know?

I have seen it on a Croatian news channel they are referring to this case by warning parents not to put photos of their children on Facebook, saying 'putting photos of your children on Facebook is same as standing on a street and sharing the same photos with the passers by'

Very wise advice, Vixte.....In any country.