Gardai in Dublin are urgently seeking information about the whereabouts of a 15-year-old Romanian girl who was abducted from her home in Walkinstown shortly after midnight yesterday.
Three men called at the home of the Kovici family in a black Ford Transit van. Two men wearing balaclavas and wielding knives entered the family home at Hughes's Road North, Walkins town and abducted the teenager, Anka Nova, her parents told detectives from Crumlin Garda Station.
Neither parent speaks English very well, so the gardai had difficulty in piecing together what happened. Supt John Madden said last night that they were "keeping an open mind" as to the motive for Anka's abduction.
The girl's father was not in the house at the time and did not arrive home until about 2 a.m., the gardai said. Her mother was asleep in an upstairs bedroom and Anka was in a box room on the ground floor when the two abductors entered.
They escaped from the house with the girl via a dark alley beside the Black Forge Inn. They made off in the '98-registered van.
The girl is described as 5 ft 7 in in height, with olive skin, waist-length black hair dyed ginger in places, brown eyes and of medium build. She was wearing a white dress with a black top and long earrings.
Detectives at Crumlin can be contacted at 01-4555571.