Kidnapped girl faced likely death —police

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 1

Kidnapped girl faced likely death —police

PA

Dunedin

Gloria Kong, the Oamaru schoolgirl kidnapped last week, faced certain death had her fighting spirit not compelled her to free herself after 38 hours in captivity, according to the police.

The police disclosed last evening many details of the way the girl, aged 14, had been tied and left by a gang of three men and one woman who held her to ransom for $120,000. Detective Inspector Neville Stokes, the officer in charge of the inquiry, said he released details of Gloria’s captivity so that people could see how serious the case was.

Gloria Kong, a pupil of Waitaki Girls’ High School, was abducted from her home on Wednesday by three armed and masked men. They had tied her mother and father, Sue and Jimmy Kong, and three visitors after holding them at gunpoint. They took Gloria to a house somewhere within 20 minutes drive of the Kongs’ Totara home, just south of Oamaru, then on Thursday night abandoned her in a haybarn outside Oamaru. "The girl was tied up and left in a way she should never have been able to free herself,” Mr Stokes said. “Had she not done so, she would not have been found until the end of the winter, when the hay would have been fed out. “Gloria had each wrist tied to each thigh, and her ankles were double-bound. "A- sack with a hole for her head enveloped her body, and a rope was tied over the sack and around her body from the shoulders to her legs. “She had been placed feet first into a second sack which came up to her knees. Another rope was wound round the outer sack from ankles to shoulders,Mr Stokes said.

“She was gagged with a pair of socks tied around her face and neck, and her ears were plugged with cotton wool. A pillow case had

been placed over her head and tied tightly round her neck.

“It can obviously be assumed that she was hot meant to free herself. She had had no food for some 30 hours, and was cold and frightened and in a weakened condition.”

Mr Stokes said the gang then put Gloria in a far corner of the haybarn, in a hole created by the bales, with more bales piled around her and across the top of the hole. “It was only this brave little girl’s fighting spirit that enabled her to eventually free one hand, and then gradually untie or slip out of the rest of her bonds,” he said.

"The people who left her in such circumstances did not bother to telephone and tell the police or her family where she could be found.

“Obviously she could have lain there for a long time with the serious risk of hypothermia and death.” The police squad of more than 100 men and women had been so far unable to

identify either the house Gloria was kept in, the van the gang used to transport her about, or the kidnappers.

While pleased with response so far — more than 100 people have got in touch with the police — Mr Stokes said they needed more information.

The police believe the key to solving the case lies in the quick identification of the house Gloria described herself being held in. Although blindfolded, gagged, and with her ears plugged, she remembered being kept for a time in what appeared to be a large cupboard. Once, when her blindfold slipped, she noticed yellow and white painted panels in a bathroom. The house had a telephone and a flush toilet and there was some means of boiling water, but apparently no cooking facilities.

There were some carpet and some bare boards in the rooms, and she heard what she thought was a “hot rod” or a rally car revving its motor and changing gears. There was a large dog at the house, and it was in a rural setting with some traffic noise, possibly near a factory. The vehicle involved may be a panel van with sliding side doors and a hinged rear door. Mr Stokes said there might be differences in the girl’s description of some details and the actuality of the house and van. “Remember, our witness was in a very stressful situation, and cannot be expected to remember everything in exact detail. “Obviously the sooner we find the house we are looking for, the sooner we are going to catch the offenders,” Mr Stokes said.