Disappearance of Aisling Symes

Who is Disappearance of Aisling Symes?

The disappearance of Aisling Celine Symes, a two-year-old girl of Irish and New Zealand descent, occurred on 5 October 2009 in New Zealand. It was initially thought the girl had been abducted, but on 12 October 2009 it was confirmed that a body had been located in a storm water drain on a property adjoining the one from where she went missing. The body was confirmed to be Aisling's.

Aisling's parents are Angela and Allan Symes. Allan Symes is originally from Stradbally, County Waterford in Ireland. He had lived in New Zealand for 18 years at the time of Aisling's disappearance. The last known person to see Aisling was her five-year-old sister Caitlin.

A description issued of an Asian woman believed to have been near the crime scene prompted a number of incidents where Asian mothers were targeted by curious members of the public.

The disappearance attracted headlines in New Zealand and Ireland, particularly as child abduction is an unusual occurrence in New Zealand. One New Zealand police inspector claimed on Morning Ireland that only five children had disappeared in his country in the previous fifty years. The New Zealand Herald said nine children had disappeared without trace in the country in sixty years, at least two cases of which involved more than one child at a time. Forty members of New Zealand's police force were quickly put on the case. This had risen to sixty by the end of the first week and was set to rise again before her body was located.