SINGAPORE: Johor’s Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi has called on the public to help provide information on the whereabouts of a six-year-old girl who has been missing since Saturday (Jul 20).
In a Facebook post, Mr Onn Hafiz said that he had received a report on the disappearance of the girl who was allegedly separated from her family following an outing at a mall in Johor’s Iskandar Puteri.
“I’ve received a report about a girl aged six who went missing on Jul 20, 2024 (at) 8.30pm after separating from her family during a Bon Odori event in Eco Galleria, Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru,” Mr Onn Hafiz wrote on Facebook.
“(The) police are working to find the child. I too appeal to the public who have information or have found her to please report to the closest police station.”
Photos of the girl, allegedly taken at the event, shortly made the rounds on social media, according to local publications.
The Bon Odori is a summer festival originating from Japan that has been held in parts of Malaysia to help promote and strengthen ties between the two countries.
Iskandar Puteri district police chief Assistant Commissioner (ACP) M. Kumarasan first issued a public alert on the missing girl – who was identified as Albertine Leo Jia Hui – on Sunday.
“We are actively investigating and urge the public not to speculate about the child’s disappearance,” Mr Kumarasan had said then.
She was reportedly last seen by her father at about 8.30pm on Jul 20 and was wearing a white t-shirt with a Mickey Mouse image on the chest and shorts.
Albertine is around 120cm tall, with long black hair, local media reported.
According to a report by The Sun in February, an average of two children in Malaysia went missing every day in the country between 2021 and 2023.
Most were located or returned home on their own, the report said.
And of the 779 reported cases of missing children last year, the police managed to find 709 of them, according to Bukit Aman Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division chief assistant director ACP Siti Kamsiah Hassan.
