'She didn't eat or drink for 3 days': Missing girl in Johor reunites with family

Three days after her family last saw her in Johor Bahru, six-year-old Albertine Leo was reunited with them on Tuesday (July 23) evening.

She was found in a budget hotel in Selangor earlier that day, Malaysian police said.

That evening, a photo of the girl with her relatives was shared online by Facebook user Barbie Hui Hui, who is believed to be a family friend.

Thanking members of the public for their concern, Barbie said that the girl was safe but exhausted.

"Her family wanted me to tell everyone that they are extremely grateful for the sharing of social media posts [that led to Leo being found]," she wrote, adding that they had given her permission to share the photo.

Facebook user Colour Fu, who was tagged in Barbie's post and also believed to be a family friend, commented that the girl had not been fed throughout the ordeal.

"She said she didn't eat or drink anything for three days. When I heard that, it broke my heart," he wrote.

Replying to other comments on her Facebook post, Barbie confirmed that the girl said she had not eaten while she was in the hotel. The child, however, kept silent when asked what had happened.

"We decided not to ask her so many questions and let her recover from the incident before asking again," she explained.

In a previous post, Barbie had said the girl was undergoing a medical examination at a hospital and hoped that the ordeal will not affect her mental health.

The child was found safe and did not sustain any physical injuries, said Johor police chief M. Kumar on Tuesday. 

She had disappeared from the Bon Odori festival held at JB mall Eco Galleria last Saturday, and was last seen by her parents at about 8.30pm.

According to Bernama, a 31-year-old man, who was together with the girl in the hotel room, was arrested. He was seen wearing a Bon Odori Johor festival shirt, reported the New Straits Times.

Prior to his arrest, the police had detained two women and two men for investigations.

All five suspects are not known to Leo's family, and their motive for abducting the girl is yet to be determined as the suspects had not made any ransom demands, said Kumar.

The police reclassified the case as kidnapping, and are also investigating the case under sexual assault.

lim.kewei@asiaone.com