UPDATE: Whilst all early reports had ‘Amy-Lee’ as the spelling, the family has now confirmed that it is Amy-Leigh…

Yesterday, six-year-old Amy-Leigh de Jager was snatched from outside Laerskool Kollegepark in Vanderbijlpark at around 7:40AM.

Later in the day, the four male kidnappers, who had made off in a white Toyota Fortuner, made contact with the family, demanding R2 million for her return.

Thankfully, news broke this morning that Amy-Leigh has been found and reunited with her family. News24 reports:

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo confirmed to News24 that Amy-Lee de Jager has been found. She had been snatched from her mother’s car in front of the school…

“She was found [on Tuesday] morning and reunited with her parents,” Naidoo said. “She is currently undergoing medical examination.”

Naidoo appealed to the public to allow the investigation to take its course. “Investigators are busy investigating the circumstances of both her disappearance as well as her sudden reappearance.”

It’s been reported that Amy-Leigh was dropped on a street at around 2AM this morning, and was taken to a police station by a man and a woman who heard her crying.

Louise Horn, Amy-Leigh’s aunt, told TimesLIVE about the emotional reunion:

“Everything is OK, she wasn’t harmed. She has also undergone tests at the hospital, so everything is OK.”

…Horn said the whole family was relieved. “It was the longest 19 hours of our lives. We are really glad she’s back with us.”

Once reunited with her mom, Angeline, and dad, Wynand, “the first thing she asked for was a burger and her brother”.

Horn said De Jager’s mother was traumatised and her father heartbroken. “It’s going to be a long road of recovery for all of them.”

According to Horn, no ransom was paid.

Perhaps the intense media attention spooked the kidnappers, but whatever the case, Amy-Leigh’s return will come as welcome news in what has been a particularly harrowing 24-hour news cycle.

The search for the kidnappers will go on, and according to independent kidnap and ransom analyst Nicole Elliott, who spoke with TimesLIVE, this was an orchestrated effort.

The kidnappers pushed Amy-Leigh’s brother out of the way before grabbing her, and that is telling:

“It [the kidnapping] obviously seems to have been well organised and planned considering the abductors took the girl and not her brother. It implies that they knew who they were after. Moreover, it is interesting that it happened during the day as well – it tells us there is a high level of organisation,” she said.

The timing of the ransom demand, which came just hours after Amy-Lee was taken, was also significant, said Elliott.

“It is quite fast for a ransom demand to come in and while the figure, R2m, is low by international standards, it is realistic and credible for the South African context. It implies that they may have an idea of the financial means or liquidity of the family.”

…“What is going on in the family and their businesses, whether or not there are personal or professional disputes, will be under examination,” said Elliott, adding that the police will have to establish motive.

Amy-Leigh’s father is F1 powerboat racer Wynand de Jager, who is the son of one of South Africa’s most famous F1 Grand Prix powerboat racers, Elzane De Jager, who died in 2011.

The phone used to make the ransom call was traced to Heidelberg, but nothing more came of that.

[sources:news24&timeslive&timeslive]