A missing one-year-old girl, Pornsiri Wongsilarung, has been found alive in a jungle hut where an alleged kidnapper kept her to ‘sacrifice her to forest spirits’ in Thailand.
Thai police were led to the stowaway hut by a man who confessed to kidnapping the toddler on Sunday night.
The 44-year-old perpetrator simply identified as Siew said he left the victim also known as ‘Gina’ outside a cave as a sacrifice to “forest and mountain spirits“.
Gina went missing from her remote north Thailand home on Sunday afternoon.
At the time of disappearance of the minor who was playing in front of their house, her mother Malee Pasee, 23 was cooking in the kitchen and her father Suriya Wongsilaruang, 43, was running errands two miles away from their home.
Malee began to panic when she called out to Gina and got no reply. When she walked out of the kitchen, she realised her baby girl had gone missing. Neighbours said they last saw Gina walking on the road around 10 metres away from home.
Her mother said;
Gina never goes out of the house alone, my husband and I are always around her. She is also afraid of strangers and would not allow anybody to carry her.
Speaking with the media before Gina was found, the distraught mum added;
I miss Gina so much I have not been able to sleep. I’m willing to do anything to have her back even at the cost of my own life.
Reacting to the report of a missing person, more than 200 police officers, rescue workers and volunteers helped searched through nearby homes and woodland for the missing girl.
Sniffer dogs, aerial search drones and a diving team were also looking for Gina in various places where she could have strayed.
When Gina disappeared, one resident told police he saw a unrecognised pick-up carrying two motorcycles in the back while being followed by a black sedan.
Then Wednesday morning, police confirmed the suspect was accompanying rescuers on their way to the hideout.
Later that day, they found the 23-month-old about three kilometres from her home, Thai media reports said.
Siew, who is a Myanmar national and a friend of the girl’s father, confessed on Wednesday morning after two days of intense interrogation, cops said.
