Albany police stress importance of community reports after 2 missing young girls located in separate searches

Albany police have stressed the value of information reports from members of the public following two separate successful searches for young girls who went missing over the weekend. On Friday afternoon an eight-year-old girl was separated from her family while bushwalking near the National Anzac Centre on Mt Clarence about 4.30pm, sparking an urgent police search. Albany police officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Hugh Letessier said Albany police launched a land search with about 12 on-duty officers and located her about 30 minutes later. On Saturday night another girl, also aged eight, was reported missing from her home in Emu Point about 10.30pm. Albany police and SES volunteers launched a search effort which ran through the night. Sen. Sgt Letessier said the girl was found by extended family members in the early hours of Sunday morning. “We did have genuine concerns for the child because the weather was very cold, and she had limited warm clothing and access to food,” he said. “We were quite relieved that she was located safe and well.” Sen. Sgt Letessier said several sightings of the girl were reported to police by members of the public after a text message alert was sent out to Albany residents. He said it showed the valuable role members of the public play in assisting police. “We rely very heavily on members of the public to report information that may assist us,” Sen. Sgt Letessier said. “There’s only 50 police here in Albany at the police station, yet there’s 30,000 people in the community. “So if we’ve got 30,000 people looking for people who are at risk, that’s a lot better than just the 50 officers looking. “My message for members of community is to be mindful of the SMS alerts that come through on their phone, and from that, act as any good member of the community would and report anything that will be of assistance.”