Abduction fear as hunt for Daniel widens

The hunt for seven-year-old Daniel Entwistle widened yesterday as police said he may have been abducted.

Police and coastguards were searching inland waterways and the sea for Daniel, who disappeared from his home in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on Saturday evening.

Detective Superintendent Julian Gregory, who is heading the investigation, said: "Abduction is a possible line of inquiry simply because we have a seven-year-old boy missing. We are looking at all the options but at the moment we have nothing that steers us in a particular direction."

He added: "The longer he's missing, the more concerned we become for his safety. I won't pretend that I'm not frustrated that we haven't found him. We have a very strong desire to find this little lad and bring him back to his parents."

Police have been studying the movements of known and suspected sex offenders living in the area. About 100 police officers and volunteers are looking for the boy among mud flats and river banks close to where he was last seen.

The boy went missing after telling his parents David, 41, and Paula, 30, that he was going out to play. A bicycle believed to be his was found beside a tidal river, the Yare, a short distance from his home. Closed-circuit television footage from a shop near his home showed him running an errand for his mother at 5.02pm, after which he returned home. Shortly afterwards he left on his bike. Footage from a security camera at a garage near his home showed a boy crossing the forecourt on a bike at 5.20pm.

Police have received two unconfirmed sightings of the boy later that day.