DELIVERED
The police are deeply concerned about the well-being of 10-year-old Lily and 8-year-old Pearl and are asking for the public’s help in locating them.
A mother accused of taking her two daughters in violation of a parental order traveled to Wellington hoping to meet Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Lily, 10, and Pearl, 8, were taken on Dec. 24, police said.
They were last seen at a gas station in south Auckland at 11pm on Monday. The police, deeply concerned for their well-being, are urgently seeking information on their whereabouts.
Their mother is due to appear in Wellington District Court on Wednesday after being arrested in Wellington on Tuesday.
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The mother posted a video on Facebook on Tuesday evening.
“I’m here in Parliament in Wellington because I hope I can see Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, or at least she will see me,” she says in the video.
“There is an extreme problem that I have and I have tried to go to many levels, but it does not work. So it is my humble petition that I may see her.
“It concerns my two children and me.
“I drove all the way. It took me almost 24 hours. And without going into too much detail, please Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, we need you.”
A car they had been traveling in was sighted in Devon St, New Plymouth at about 9:40am on Tuesday. It is a 1994 silver Toyota Camry, registration CLR45, police said.
The girls’ mother was found alone around 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday and arrested in Wellington.
She refused to say where the children were, police said. Police searched parked vehicles in central Wellington after her arrest, but failed to find the children.
Police believe Pearl and Lily can now stay somewhere between Auckland and Wellington.
“The woman met people through Facebook during the time we searched for her and the children, and it is possible she left Pearl and Lily with one of these people,” Detective Chief Kevan Verry said in a statement.
“We believe these contacts may have been misled or unaware of the true circumstances of this case, or the serious concerns being expressed for the well-being of the children.”
The woman will appear in Wellington District Court on Wednesday on charges of breaching a parental order.
Anyone with information about Pearl and Lily is asked to call 911 and quote the file number 221224/4977.