Child Abduction Alert! Ocean Park

E

eneri7

Registered User
I just received this message from two friends in my playgroup and felt compelled to post this immediately!! Please read below:


A close friend had a very upsetting incident at Ocean Park on Friday afternoon in which two Chinese women tried to abduct her child as she was clipping her baby into the stroller. She says her son (just under 3 yrs old) was not more than 4 ft from her when these women seemed very friendly and were making a fuss over her son, one of them picked him up and within about 10 seconds she couldn't see them. She heard her son crying as they were running/walking fast off with him. A passer by was alarmed and tried to stop the women, they let go of the boy and ran off. This passer by said they had put a hat/scarf on him to cover him up. When my friend talked to security, their first words were 'not again' - at which my friend got understandably very angry with them. Ocean Park staff said they didn't want any 'fuss' and tried to play it down, so she called the police and they have formally lodged it as an attempted child abduction. A friendly security guard at Ocean Park said this was the second time in 3 weeks - both non- Chinese toddlers targeted. She is going to talk to Sunshine House tomorrow, where her child goes, to put a notice up and warn as many parents as possible. She is also going to talk to the Editor of Playtimes. Please let anyone with toddlers know.
 
I received this earlier today too. I have just now received another email stating its a hoax. Even if it is it doesn't hurt to remind ourselves to be vigilant.

See email response from Marisa Zeman (daughter of Ocean park owner):

Thank you for letting me know about this. I've actually received it also this morning from another friend of mine for our information. I immediately sent both emails (it's the same email in fact) to my father who contacted the security at Ocean Park immediately to look into it. They had no knowledge or reports of such incidents. They also contacted the police who also had no reports of anything similar to this matter. He has just spoken with the lady who it appears was at the early start if the emails and she told him that she was relieved to hear that it seemed to be a hoax and that was what her initial thought was when she heard the story. She thought as I can understand all mothers would, that it better safe than sorry to report it to other mothers with children. I hope that this puts yours and your friend's minds at ease. Ocean Park is carefully watching out for anything suspicious and this email is believed to have been a viral hoax. If however you do know of someone who would like to step forward in regards to this matter, please have them contact me as soon as possible [email protected]

Also, please forward this around to your friends and anyone else who might have received the previous email. The SCMP have also already been contacted in regards to the emails. Hope to see you soon....and at Ocean Park!
Marisa xxx
 
I agree its best to be vigilant. I don't have a fair skinned, light eyed, blond child so I have not been bothered by mainland tourists as much but I have experienced friends being pestered for photos and holding the child.

I also would not disregard the first email as I can't believe what else will Ocean Park say except that its a hoax unless there was some solid proof against them. Security people don't want to be fired either so they are going to deny it too. And to be fair, same thing could have happened at Disney as well.
 
we've heard of incidents like the one mentioned above (we received an email fwd too) happening quite a bit at the Ikea in Causeway Bay.
 
ocean park has confirmed that such incident has not been reported to them but yes, we as parents should still be vigilant. my bub has asian features and he gains lots of attention whenever we are out and about. he smiles at everyone and most people (including those serious policemen) smile back and waves at him.

i've been told that some local mummies train their kids NOT to smile or talk to strangers but i don't think that hurts as long as you are keeping an eye on your kid.
 
"I have just recieved another email saying it is a hoax" says "daughter of Ocean Park manager". Not very believing, an e-mail from who? The hoaxer, a fellow Ocean Park worker? The e-mail is indeed frightening to read and it would have been more reassuring to have read of tightened security measures put in place - even if the issue could not be confirmed to be true.
 
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