Police searching for baby who was left at a coffee shop
The Australian Federal Police and the Federal Court have made the unorthodox decision to go public about a missing baby who was last seen at a Sydney coffee shop earlier this year.
17-month-old Hoang Vinh Le was last seen in Canberra in April, when his parents Hoang Thanh Le, 28, and Lyn Kim Do, 21, removed him from his maternal grandmother’s care.
Vinh’s parents say that around May 19, they gave a woman they met at a coffee shop $200 to care for Vinh, but they have not seen him since. They identified the woman as “Kathy Nguyen”, but authorities have been unable to locate this person or verify whether they actually exist.
The parents were arrested on May 20, but Vinh has yet to be found.
Identifying children who may be victims of a crime is illegal in NSW, but the Federal Court made an order allowing media outlets to publicise Vinh’s identity, in the hopes of obtaining assistance from the public to locate him.
Following the removal of Vinh from his grandmother’s care, the court made a recovery order for him to be returned, but that order has not been complied with.
The AFP says that the parents have not provided sufficient details to enable police to identify Kathy Nguyen, and authorities are concerned for Vinh’s welfare.
Authorities say Vinh was last seen at a medical practice in the Canberra suburb of O’Connor on April 9, and was put into a silver ISUZU MU-X 4WD with the NSW registration of CF72Y1. Since then, Vinh could have been in any of the following areas in NSW: Cabramatta, Bankstown, Liverpool, West Wyalong, Temora and Wagga Wagga.
The AFP says that anyone who is knowingly withholding information about the welfare or whereabouts of Vinh may be contributing to an offence. Anyone who has any information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Image: AFP