‘Risk of harm’: Dire police update after amber alert issued for girl, 8, taken by man from Sunshine Coast in Qld

An urgent amber alert has been issued after an eight-year-old girl was taken from a Maroochydore Child Safety Service Centre in the Sunshine Coast. Police believe the man who allegedly took the eight-year-old girl may be heading to Noosa, reiterating their plea to the public for anyone with information to come forward. The girl was allegedly taken from a facility in Beach Rd, Maroochydore about 10.45am on Thursday by a man police say is known to her. The child was seen being put into a dark blue Toyota Hilux with the number plate 156VBO as the man – believed to be in his 40s – fled the scene. The girl, who police say may be “at significant risk”, has blonde hair and was wearing black and white checkered shorts, a navy blue shirt and white sandals. Detective Acting Inspector Scott Wiggins told reporters Thursday afternoon that the amber alert was necessitated by police intelligence “suggesting the child may be at risk of harm”. “We’ve got serious concerns about the welfare of the child” Adding that the man is a Sunshine Coast resident, Mr Wiggins said: “All attempts police have made to contact that male person have gone unanswered.” “We’ve got serious concerns about the welfare of the child.” Its thought the man may be in the Noosa area due to the fact that he frequents the area and was seen heading in that direction after the abduction. Mr Wiggins refused to comment on whether the man had a previous history with police. With limited intelligence to go off, Mr Wiggins renewed pleas for public information. Anyone with information is urged to call 131 564, or triple-0 if they have “life threatening information about this incident.”