CHILD DISAPPEARS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 53, 20 July 1912, Page 8

CHILD DISAPPEARS.

MAXY CLUES OFFERED. Christchurch, Thursday. All maimer of clues are being offered to the police in connection with the disappearance of Harold Smith, the five-year-old child who has been missing from his parents' house in Aldred street, Christchurch, since Friday. The disappearance was so complete and baffling that the police had to give some consideration to the possibility of foul play or abduction; but there is evidence that the child got into the river after being seen playing near the Armagh street bridge, and this has dispelled the more mysterious theories. It is now accepted that the child got into the river, and that the body will be found well down towards the mouth of the river, as the current has been fast during the recent rains. Small boys have reported to the police that they saw a man in a macintosh on Sunday carrying a little boy, who was said to be lost, but the story is probably an invention, as the child had been missing two full days on Sunday. Other persons have reported that suspicious-looking old vagrant women have been seen with unusually bright children. The police do not attach any. weight to these "clues." the river is being dragged, but it is feared that the body might have got out to sea by this time, as floating objects would not be noticed readily, owing to | the muddy state of the river.