Six years on, missing Sharlinie's parents have not given up hope
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Suraya and Mohd Nashar looking at Sharlinie's portrait at their home in Dungun.
DUNGUN - As she prepares her children for the upcoming new school term, Suraya Ahmad's heart continues to cry out for her daughter Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, who went missing nearly six years ago.
Sharlinie, her third child, would have been preparing to start Year Five if she was still home.
Suraya, 33, has never given up hope that Sharlinie would return one day.
"It may have been five years but to me it feels just like yesterday that my Nini was taken from us.
"I know in my heart that she is still alive," she said when met at her home in Kampung Padang Pulut here yesterday.
Then six-year-old Sharlinie went missing while at a playground about 200m from her house in Taman Datuk Harun in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, on Jan 9, 2008.
"I can never forget the day that she went missing.
"I still remember her smiles and laughter ... sometimes I even thought of seeing her around the house," said Suraya, who added that her family had to move to her husband's hometown here just to find some peace of mind.
"How can I move on when I know that she is still out there," she said.
Everytime she looks at her daughters Nurul Amirah, 16 and Sharliena, 13, and son Adam, four, Suraya still sees Sharlinie and vowed not to let anything happen to them.
"This bad experience has taught me to always be watchful over my daughters. I hope all parents know that the safety of children comes first," she said.
Meanwhile, husband Mohd Nashar Mat Hussin, who works as a mechanic, hoped the authorities would not give up on finding his daughter.
"We have never and will never give up hope that she will be found. We all miss her terribly," he said.
The last known "sighting" of Sharlinie was in August, 2008, when a 13-year-old girl saw a picture of Sharlinie in the van she was held captive in, before she escaped, in what is believed to be an attempt at kidnapping.
It was reported that five men in a van tried to abduct the Form One student while she was waiting at a bus stop near Sungai Kapar Indah in Klang.
The girl claimed that besides seeing Sharlinie's photograph in the van, there were also pictures of other young girls, some with faces marked with an X.
