Search for kidnapped Romani infant proving fruitless

The search for a kidnapped Romani infant from Trmice (Ústí nad Labem district) is in its fifth day with no tangible results. Vladimír Danyluk, director of the Ústí Regional Police, told the Czech Press Agency today there is no news in the case, which has prompted significant interest in the German media. Michala Janová was not yet three weeks old when she was kidnapped last Wednesday by an unidentified man who took her from her pram on a street in Trmice.

There was some news from abroad in the case over what was a holiday weekend in the Czech Republic, such as reports in the Polish media that someone had seen the kidnappers’ car heading for the Belarusian border, as well as other images of the car from a CCTV system in Germany. “For the time being there is nothing new. We are investigating the information published in Poland,” Danyluk told the Czech Press Agency. Last week police detectives began interrogating the child’s relatives, eyewitnesses to the kidnapping, and other persons who might help solve the case.

Most Germany dailies have reported on the kidnapping on their websites. The daily Bild has been following the situation daily and has sought contact information for the family from Czech journalists. “Our people have their eyes open always,” Deutsche-Presse Agentur quoted the spokesperson for detectives in Saxony as saying.

The child was kidnapped last Wednesday afternoon, 18 days after being born. Eyewitnesses say the kidnapper was a dark-haired white male roughly 180 – 190 centimeters tall who took the baby from her pram and drove off in a car with Czech license plates. Those turned out to have been stolen. Police say the man was evidently prepared for the action and has changed his clothing and evidently the car’s license plates as well during his getaway.

When she was kidnapped the child was wearing a long-sleeved grey t-shirt with blue stripes, grey sweatpants with a red stripe, and pink fabric booties. Underneath her outer clothing she had on a white onesie with a crocodile on the chest. The little girl has a half-centimeter long birthmark on the left side of her neck above her shoulder. News server iDNES.cz has reported that the family is offering to pay ransom for her return.