How little Amy-Lee was snatched

The six-year-old was kidnapped by four men at school yesterday, with a little boy screaming: “My sister! My sister!”

The kidnappers of Amy-Lee de Jager, who was snatched in front of Laerskool Kollegepark in Vanderbijlpark yesterday morning, are demanding R2 million for her release.

Amy-Lee de Jager, six, was kidnapped by four men in front of the school at at 7.40am.

Annemarie Pienaar, who had dropped her son and was on her way back to her car, was about five metres from Amy-Lee’s mother’s car, as it was happening.

She said: “I heard a woman screaming, and when I looked up I saw a white Fortuner. I looked into the window but could see nothing because the window was black.

“I just saw how [the mother] fell on the ground, apparently when the vehicle pulled away or bumped her. I could not see the men or, at that stage, a registration number.

“The next moment there was a little boy at the gate screaming. One could see the fear on his face. I picked him up and he just screamed, ‘my sister, my sister!’ I then took him to his class.

“At first I thought it was [the mother’s] vehicle that had been stolen. I was then told they had grabbed the child from her, bundled her into the Fortuner and rushed away.”

A member of the Klerksdorp Community Police Forum confirmed that Amy-Lee’s parents had been contacted with a ransom demand. Reports circulating on social media that Amy-Lee had been found, were not true, the member said.

Pictures of a white Toyota Fortuner with a GP registration plate was also not the vehicle that was used in the kidnapping. The Fortuner, which did not have number plates, was last seen on the R82 close to Meyerton.

Police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela said a manhunt had been launched.

In a voice note, Warrant Officer Mills of the SA Police Service Crime Intelligence Unit confirmed the ransom demand. He urged people to remain calm and not to spread false information.

“Please think of the family. Police are investigating,” Mills said.

When contacted, Amy-Lee’s father, Wynand de Jager, was too distraught to speak.

Mohamed Cajee, another member of the Community Police Forum, said by 1.30 yesterday there had been no further contact since the ransom demand. – Caxton News Service/Additional Reporting by News24 Wire

There was a little boy at the gate screaming. I picked him up and he just screamed, ‘my sister, my sister!

Annemarie Pienaar Eye witness