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07/02/2008		Motorola gets new local head
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[5]

Aussies in air crash horror

A BUDGET airliner carrying 130 passengers and crew crashed on landing in Phuket yesterday killing at least 88 of the people on board.

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Man abandons little girl at train station
Police say they know who the man is
Girl dubbed `Pumpkin` after her Pumpkin Patch clothes

CARERS for abandoned toddler `Pumpkin` said today she had asked for her mummy, but was otherwise fine.

Police this morning said they now know the identity of a man who abandoned a toddler, and believe he is a relative of the little girl.

Inspector Brad Shallies said today "we are confident we know who that person is".

Speaking on ABC radio he said they were "relatively confident" the man was a relative, and while authorities had not ruled out the incident as kidnapping, the focus was "not towards that scenario".

And he told Channel 7 that a number of CrimeStoppers calls from the public yesterday led police to form a "firm scenario" about what had happened.

Insp Shallies said the girl arrived in Melbourne from New Zealand on Thursday afternoon, or evening, in company with the man who left her at the station.

The pair spent two nights in Melbourne at a city hotel before going to Southern Cross railway station about 8am on Saturday.

"We know from there that the child was left at the bottom of an escalator," Insp Shallies said.

The station`s authorities believed she was able to identify a man on the security camera as a relative.

Insp Shallies said police were working to find the man, who was believed to still be in Melbourne.

The girl, dubbed "Pumpkin", has been placed in emergency foster care after she was found wandering alone the train station.

Security footage shows the girl, believed to be aged about three, hand-in-hand with a man pulling a suitcase.

The man then disappeared, leaving the girl wandering the station alone for up to 15 minutes before security staff spotted her.

A Victoria Police spokesman said that at this stage they were not releasing the name of the man they believed had abandoned Pumpkin.

Police would try to track him down before any name was publicly released, he said.

Insp Shallies said the man could face criminal charges but that was "downstream" and the girl`s welfare and discovering the circumstances behind the case were the immediate priority.

Pumpkin has been placed with temporary foster parents while the hunt for her family continues.

Inspector Brad Shallies said Pumpkin had been "calm and composed" since being taken into the care of police and the Department of Human Services.

Police have contacted the Department of Immigration and are investigating whether the girl may have travelled to Melbourne from overseas.

Footage obtained from the station shows a man of Asian appearance casually dumping Pumpkin as he wheels a suitcase through the station.

A search of a national database has not revealed an abduction report fitting the child`s description.

Pumpkin walked aimlessly around one of the station`s platforms for up to 15 minutes before a security guard noticed she was alone.

One passenger, Dan West, said the girl was "by herself and in tears".

Southern Cross Station chief Phillip Walker said V-Line staff and passengers first reported the apparently lost little girl to security.

"Police have interviewed all our staff involved, and they all made statements immediately" he said. Insp Shallies said it was believed the separation was deliberate.

"To walk away and not look back, of course, that`s distressing," he said.

Department of Human Services director of child protection and family services, Christina Asquini, said Pumpkin had been well cared for.

"We would be asking that her mother, her father or any extended family to make their way forward so . . . they can help us work out what`s best for her in the future," she said. "It`s pointless really speculating about the circumstances of why the child was left."

Police named the girl Pumpkin after her Pumpkin Patch brand vest.

The abandonment of Pumpkin follows the dumping of Baby Catherine at an entrance to Dandenong Hospital earlier this year.

Anyone who can help identify Pumpkin is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

With AAP

`Pumpkin` asking for her mummy 09/17/2007