Mom wants snatched son back
2005-10-11 21:50
Lucia Swart and Borrie la Grange
Johannesburg - Whether his dad was to have testified against a syndicate or whether Liam might have been kidnapped for other reasons is not important to Anastasia Aspeling - she just wants her youngest son back.
"I don't know why it happened to my child. I don't know any baddies.
"I'm a good person. Oh, dear God, please bring him safely back," pleaded Aspeling on Tuesday just hours after Liam, 10, was kidnapped from in front of his parental home in Ennerdale, south of Johannesburg.
About 07:20, he was waiting for a lift to Aloe Ridge Primary School, when a gang of five armed men grabbed him.
Aspeling said: "He said goodbye and kissed me. His last words were 'Bye Mommy' before he walked out of the gate.
"I hope I haven't seen him for the last time. Oh, please God, don't let it be that," sobbed Aspeling.
Reporters learned from a reliable source on Tuesday that Liam's father, Vernon Aspeling, was to testify in a case against a syndicate and had been placed in a witness-protection programme.
Then mom heard screams
A source in the police said Aspeling had not had any contact with the family recently.
"It is very sensitive and many people's lives are at risk," he said.
Relatives said Aspeling was in a Cape prison.
The kidnappers stopped behind the lift-club car in a champagne-coloured Honda Civic with darkened windows and a DWL 094 GP registration number.
"The next minute I heard screams. I thought someone might have run him over. Then my eldest son, Mitchum, 15, screamed: 'A man has grabbed Liam'."
Sophia Maart, a neighbour, saw Liam being kidnapped.
"Liam was with about five other children in the car. A man with a gun jumped out of the Honda and ran to the car, pulled out a child and then grabbed Liam. He kicked and screamed, but the guy picked him up like a sack, pushed him into the Honda and then raced away."
Liam's mother jumped into her car to chase the kidnappers - "But it was too late. He was gone. My child is gone."
The Aspelings went to the police immediately and a team has been put together to search for Liam.
Senior superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht of Gauteng police said a special police team was still searching for Liam and his kidnappers by Tuesday night. A police helicopter was also being used.
'Taken for other reasons'
"We checked the numberplate, but it was definitely false. The kidnappers have not yet contacted the family," she said.
A family friend, who wanted to remain anonymous, said later: "They mustn't expect a ransom call. The child was taken for other reasons."
Aspeling was dead tired by Tuesday night. She said: "I'm dead, completely dead. The waiting exhausts me. It's going to be a long night."
People with information can contact inspector Sam Grundling at 082 822 7606 or 083 348 7130 or 016 986 2202.