Netizens Join Forces To Search For Kidnapped British Toddler

Netizens Join Forces To Locate Kidnapped British Toddler
 
Friday, Nov 08 2013
PETALING JAYA: Twitter timelines were ablaze with netizens who sought to smoke out the kidnappers of a 20-month-old baby boy with rapid dissemination of information on Friday night.
The child's expatriate mother, Sarah Joseph, had alleged that a man stormed into her house in Bangsar and abducted her son, Freddy.
It was a crime close to home for Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, who tweeted: "My next-door neighbour's 20 month old baby Freddy, kidnapped just now in broad daylight in Bangsar."
@HakimVanPersie laid claim to an eyewitness account of the incident: "First Time In My Life I Saw Two Kidnappers Kidnapped A Newborn Baby In Front Of My Eyes."
In a Twitter conversation with his friends, he added that he could not do anything as the abductors, "a Chinese man and a lady" had pisau (knives) as weapons.
Tweets by @amuse_gueule, which attached a clear picture of young Freddy and details of his kidnap, were retweeted by the hundreds.
The admin of @myteksi, a taxi-booking app's official account, also tweeted that the alert was broadcasted in Bahasa Malaysia to "a few thousand taxi drivers" and will be repeated every half an hour.
Tweeter @keantee also appealed to local politicians on Twitter to retweet the missing child alert.
This arrested the attention of Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Gerakan Youth Chief Tan Keng Liang, who broadcasted the message to their many followers.
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah also sounded the alert to over 230,000 followers: "18-month baby kidnapped from Terasek 7 Bangsar. 2 suspects; armed, white Camry. Keep a lookout everyone! Every minute counts."
The local chapter of the United Nations Children's Fund also tweeted useful contact numbers through their @myunicef account: "@n_izzah @YouTiup @PDRMsia PDRM hotline (according to their FB page) 03-2266 3333 or 03-2031 9999.  Has a police report been lodged?"
A tweet by @hiphopless also alluded to another near-kidnapping that occurred early Friday: "A toddler nearly got kidnapped this morning at Publika. Luckily nanny managed to pull the child back. Suspect got away though. Be careful!"