Real life game of chess
JUST two months ago, a 12year-old Gold Coast schoolboy was celebrating a remarkable feat: defeating a “grand master” in a game of chess.
The Somerset Colleage student had outsmarted former world under-14 chess champion Kayden Troff, 19, from the US in 32 moves, a feat that earned acclaim around his school.
But fast forward to Friday afternoon, and the Year 7 youngster suddenly found himself as a pawn in a dangerous game he should have had nothing to do with.
Witnesses say they heard screaming when he was pulled into a black Jeep SUV as he walked home from school at about 3.45pm. He was just meters from the front door of his home in a close-knit community that overlooks the college.
Police were called almost immediately.
However, an amber alert – a child abduction emergency system – was not released until five hours later. Detectives had initially hoped the boy would be returned home promptly.
“Initially there was some information that appeared if it had been run out in due course the matter would have been resolved quickly, but it did not appear that way,” Detective Inspector Marc Hogan said.
After releasing the alert at 8.30pm, detectives set up an operation centre at Burleigh Heads Police Station and began reviewing CCTV vision provided by the Department of Transport and Main Roads in the hope of locating the missing boy, or the SUV.
By the next morning, fears had grown significantly and a fresh group of detectives were brought in to assess the information. As he addressed media, Det Insp Hogan was still appealing for information from the public.
“I’ve got a tonne of police who dive for the phone every time it rings,” he said.
Shortly after the press conference, police had received a breakthrough – CCTV had captured the SUV travelling south over the QueenslandNSW border.
“We were able to pick up the vehicle we were looking for on the cameras and it gave us an idea as to the direction of travel,” Det Insp Hogan said.
“From there it was a matter of liaising with NSW police service. Through a matter of trial and error we narrowed it down to a certain area.”
Meanwhile, at Somerset College, parents and families were keeping a close eye on their children taking part in weekend sports.
School headmaster Craig Bassingthwaighte spoke of the abducted youngster’s talents on the chess board and on the tennis court.
“We’re very, very disturbed about this. Our thoughts immediately are for the family and (the boy).”
Just 200m up the road from the press conference, detectives were seen speaking with neighbours of the Mudgeeraba community. A woman and a young child showed a detective to a spot on the corner of the family street before they both hurried back to their home.
As NSW police scoured the Northern Rivers in search of the wanted vehicle, a member of the public saw the car driving through the streets of Grafton, 200km south of the border.
That person alerted police just after midday on Saturday.
Grafton police swooped on the vehicle, shockingly finding the 12-year-old bound by his neck to the headrest of the car. His alleged 53-year-old captor sat in the driver’s seat.