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

[Carana]

More footage: moving reunion with her dad. The young guy with glasses seems to be the Minister of the Interior (or his twin brother).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTgaO3tcH40

[Eleanor]

Devastating.  Good.  Thank God they caught the barstards, whatever the agenda.  Just lock them up.

[Carana]

Devastating.  Good.  Thank God they caught the barstards, whatever the agenda.  Just lock them up.

Quite.

However traumatising this must be for the little victim's family, they're still extremely lucky that there were witnesses to the abduction, a witness quick-witted enough to alert the police immediately, the police were quick to respond and had CCTV to corroborate it and chase the vehicle...

How often do abductions with such actionable (yes, I hate the word as well) evidence take place?

[Anna]

Quite.

However traumatising this must be for the little victim's family, they're still extremely lucky that there were witnesses to the abduction, a witness quick-witted enough to alert the police immediately, the police were quick to respond and had CCTV to corroborate it and chase the vehicle...

How often do abductions with such actionable (yes, I hate the word as well) evidence take place?

The police were unbelievably fast with cars and helicopters joining the search. This was all on the same day as the helicopter crash that killed 7 whilst taking a baby to hospital.

ETA
And if you are superstitious ...I believe it was Friday 13th

[Anna]

BELGRADE – The special department of Belgrade’s high court has placed in detention for up to 30 days three French nationals suspected of kidnapping a two-year girl in Belgrade on Friday.

otmicar-branko-sebastijan

The two women and one man are facing charges of kidnapping, because they snatched the toddler in Belgrade’s Brace Jerkovic district around 1 p.m.

They tried to leave Serbia in their BMW car, but a timely police intervention prevented them from doing so.

The motives behind the kidnapping are still unknown, but if tried and convicted in Serbia as human traffickers following an investigation, the suspects could face up to 15 years in prison.

http://inserbia.info/today/2015/03/serbia-30-days-detention-for-3-french-nationals-suspected-of-kidnapping/

[Eleanor]

Nothing Third World about Serbia.  So well done for that.  But I cannot see what on earth they hoped to do, unless they had gotten away with it.

Give her back?  And my Aunt Fanny.

[Anna]

I don't believe that they would risk taking her back to her parents. &%&£(+

I think it is all a Cock and Bull story.
Nobody who truly cares for children would take a child from it's mother for such selfish reasons.

[Brietta]

I think as far as they were concerned the child was nothing more than a commodity.  I do not believe for a minute that there was any intention to return her; I think if they had succeeded her parents would never have seen her again.


Without witnesses and CCTV followed by the highly efficient police rescue operation ... this story would have been in the realms of fantasy.

For example, had the mother been walking in an isolated country road with her daughter what would have been the proof of abduction??  Would the mother's version of events have been believed?

[jassi]

Its always more difficult to resolve a crime when there are no witnesses to the actual event.
The McCann case is a good example of this.

[faithlilly]

Its always more difficult to resolve a crime when there are no witnesses to the actual event.
The McCann case is a good example of this.

And much the same as the murders of Lin and Megan Russell.

[jassi]

And much the same as the murders of Lin and Megan Russell.

And the Dando one, which has not been solved to this day.

[Brietta]

Its always more difficult to resolve a crime when there are no witnesses to the actual event.
The McCann case is a good example of this.

In the hypothetical circumstances I have described had the mother's witness statement  been all the police had to go on would she have been believed?

The abduction of a minor as in the Belgrade incident is of itself difficult to take in for normal human beings who would never contemplate such actions in their wildest dreams.

However in the event there are no witnesses to the event there is always the fall back to forensic evidence.  Unfortunately Madeleine's case is a prime example of collection of that evidence being botched by the primary forensics team.

There has been much discussion of the veracity of Jane Tanner's witness of a person carrying a child in the immediate vicinity of apartment 5A ... the veracity of which has been questioned because of her description of the manner in which the child was carried.

The still taken from a video of an actual abduction in progress shows exactly the child being carried in the manner described by Jane Tanner.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2995680/Boy-15-wore-fake-mustache-try-abduct-child-linked-kidnap-case-nine-months-ago.html#ixzz3UXok5WQV

[Anna]

I think as far as they were concerned the child was nothing more than a commodity.  I do not believe for a minute that there was any intention to return her; I think if they had succeeded her parents would never have seen her again.


Without witnesses and CCTV followed by the highly efficient police rescue operation ... this story would have been in the realms of fantasy.

For example, had the mother been walking in an isolated country road with her daughter what would have been the proof of abduction??  Would the mother's version of events have been believed?

I believe that this is where she was abducted, Brietta, so there must have luckily, been a few people around at the time.
http://www.telegraf.rs/english/1476366-romanians-kidnapped-two-year-old-in-vozdovac-a-hot-pursuit-in-belgrade

[Brietta]

I believe that this is where she was abducted, Brietta, so there must have luckily, been a few people around at the time.
http://www.telegraf.rs/english/1476366-romanians-kidnapped-two-year-old-in-vozdovac-a-hot-pursuit-in-belgrade

Thanks Anna.

Looks like garages and parking (the P sign gave it away) for the nearby flats.

At the time of day the kidnap occurred there is a fair chance it was deserted, children at school and residents at work. With no-one around except for the mother and child these people must have taken their opportunity to snatch the child.
They must have thought they would get away with it, just remains to be seen if we find out what was behind it all.

What a lovely family ... thank goodness for the safe return of the little girl.

[VIXTE]

Interview with the Serbian Interior Minister.

Hoping Vixte can translate what he's saying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3O2SEbVYTA#t=16

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.