A nine-month-old baby, who was reported missing from home in Bangkok’s Bang Na area yesterday afternoon and was believed to have been kidnapped, was found in Rayong province at around midnight last night and has been safely returned to his grandparents.
The swift and safe recovery of the child is being attributed to advisor to the interior minister and the founder of the Sai Mai Tong Rod web page, Ekkaphob Luangprasert, and accounts of witnesses who claimed to have seen the suspected kidnapper and the baby at Bang Na intersection, on the MRT bound for Hua Lamphong railway station and on a bus bound for Rayong.
Footage from CCTV systems at Mor Chit bus terminal also show the suspect carrying a baby around the ticket booth of the mini bus service, according to the police.
Ekkaphob said that he had spoken with the grandparents of the baby, both construction workers, and was told that the suspected kidnapper used to play with the baby frequently and, yesterday afternoon, had asked the grandparents to bring the baby to a nearby convenience store. They then disappeared.
He then took the grandparents to Bang Na police station to file a kidnap complaint about the missing baby. His website soon began receiving tips from eyewitnesses, who claimed to have seen the suspect with the baby at various locations.
At about 11.30pm last night, an image of a man with a baby on a bus was sent to the Sai Mai Tong Rod website. Ekkaphob said he checked the image and was convinced that the man on the bus was the same one who abducted the baby and quickly notified Bang Na police, who immediately coordinated with the police in Rayong.
Rayong police found the suspect, with the baby, at the Rayong bus terminal at about midnight. The baby was found unharmed and was later returned to his grandparents, while the suspect was held by police for questioning.
