QLD: Man in court, concern for Rockhampton schoolgirl

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-1999
QLD: Man in court, concern for Rockhampton schoolgirl

BRISBANE, April 23 AAP - Hopes were fading tonight for a missing nine-year-old girl who was
allegedly attacked and abducted on her way home from school in Rockhampton on the central
Queensland coast yesterday.

A police spokesman said a 47-year-old Rockhampton man, Leonard John Fraser, had appeared in
Rockhampton Magistrates Court this afternoon charged with child stealing.

He was remanded in custody to appear at a later date, a police spokesman said.

Earlier, operation coordinator Superintendent Rob Retro said police concerns for the girl
had deepened as the hours passed.

A search involving more than 40 people was suspended at dusk but scientific officers would
work through the night.

The search would resume at first light tomorrow on the Fitzroy River in north Mackay, he
said.

Supt Retro said a shoe was found this afternoon but there was no evidence to link it to the
missing schoolgirl.

Scientific and forensic officers have arrived in Rockhampton and joined the investigation.

Regional director of education in Rockhampton, Kevin Goodworth, said counselling had begun
at the girl's school to help children and teachers deal with her disappearance.

"The principal and senior staff there (at the girl's school) are well trained and well
versed in handling such situations," Mr Goodworth told ABC radio.

"It's extremely important, particularly when we have such high degrees of anxiety, not only
at that school but now right across the Rockhampton district," he said.

"Parents are obviously concerned at their own children."

AAP rad/cjh/br

KEYWORD: SCHOOLGIRL NIGHTLEAD

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