DATELINE: 21st November 2000
YOUNGSTER FOUND
Kidnap attempt is foiled
A toddler has been reunited with his mother following a police appeal published on Divernet and in Diver magazine.
Eighteen-month-old Simon Price had been illegally taken by his father, also named Simon, from the home of his estranged wife in Havant, Hampshire. The appeal to find the pair went out to a diving audience because the father is a keen sport-diver and police thought divers might recognise his picture.
As hoped, a reader in the diving trade recognised Price as having recently visited his premises in Paignton, Devon. Police were able to apprehend Price when he visited again.
In a letter of thanks, the investigating officer told Diver: "As a direct result of the article in Diver... Price was seen and subsequently detained. The child was fit and well."
Price, he added, had been charged with the offences of child abduction, taking without consent, and deception.